Abstract Lexical Structure and Language Transfer in Second Language Learning

This study adopts the Bilingual Lemma Activation Model (BLAM) to investigate the sources of language transfer and the linguistic nature of interlanguage (IL). The BLAM assumes that the bilingual mental lexicon contains abstract elements called ‘lemmas’ underlying lexemes and that abstract lexical structure contains three levels: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. This study provides evidence in support of the BLAM’s claim that language-specific lemmas in contact in the bilingual mental lexicon and first language (L1) abstract lexical structure may influence second language (L2) learning and affects IL development. The typical language transfer instances from the IL production of adult native speakers of Japanese learning English as an L2 and adult native speakers of English learning Japanese as an L2. Based on the findings, this study concludes that language transfer should be viewed as lemma transfer during the activation of L1 knowledge at each level of abstract lexical structure. in the sense that lexical structure contains three abstract levels: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns, and the mental lexicon contains abstract elements called „lemmas‟, which provide information about lexemes realized at each of these three levels. The crucial assumption underlying this model is that the lemmas contained in the bilingual mental lexicon are language-specific and are in contact in L2 learning. Three word This study applies the BLAM to the exploration of sources of language transfer at a rather abstract level of speech production process. This study is abstract in the sense that it goes beyond the surface observation and description of language transfer by investigating the nature and activity of the bilingual mental lexicon during IL production. As assumed in the BLAM, the bilingual mental lexicon contains language-specific lemmas underlying particular lexemes, and such language-specific lemmas are in contact in L2 learning. Different from most previous studies, this study discusses the phenomena of language transfer in terms of lemma transfer in three subsystems of abstract lexical structure: lexical-conceptual structure, predicate-argument structure, and morphological realization patterns. This study offers three implications for understanding the nature and role of language transfer in L2 learning and IL development. knowledge being learned. The BLAM predicts that sufficient acquisition of language-specific lemma specifications for the L2 abstract lexical structure becomes absolutely necessary for successful SLA. To make this happen, language-specific lemmas in the bilingual mental lexicon must be clearly separated during the process of L2 learning. This is because successful SLA involves language transfer as an unavoidable and transitional procedure, but language-specific lexicalization and grammaticalization patterns must be learned as they are. Otherwise, native-like L2 knowledge and proficiency would be impossible.