A Study of the Mental Lexical Structures of Late Chinese-English Bilinguals Based on Complex Network Analysis
This study employed semantic fluency task and complex network analysis to investigate the lexical structures of late Chinese-English bilinguals.By obtaining network visualization and network parameters,including average nodes,average degree,average clustering coefficient,average shortest-path length,small-world index,and modularity index,this study characterized the lexical structure from the perspectives of structural features and structural difference.First,it was found that the bilinguals'lexicons were small-world and modular in nature.Second,compared with the L2 lexical network,the L1 counterpart was better organized,which may be attributed to the influence of L2 proficiency and the age of L2 acquisition.Third,the results concerning how words within the network are connected supported the hypothesis of the spreading activation model.Based on the study's findings,the strategies recommended for teaching English vocabulary in China include emphasizing alignment with learners'developing mental lexicon and using methods that directly connect L2 vocabulary with images or real objects to enhance dynamic L2 vocabulary growth.
万方数据
维普
