Lexical Access in L2 Speech Production: a controlled serial search task

Gicele Vergine Vieira

doi:10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n3p245

Authors

Gicele Vergine Vieira Instituto Federal Catarinense - Campus Blumenau

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2017v70n3p245

Abstract

When it comes to lexical access in L2 speech production, working memory (WM) seems to play a central role as for less automatized procedures require more WM capacity to be executed (Prebianca, 2007). With that in mind, this paper aims at claiming that bilingual lexical access qualifies as a controlled serial strategic search task susceptible to individual differences in WM capacity. Evidence in support of such claim is provided by the results of AUTHOR's (2010) study conducted so as to investigate the relationship between L2 lexical access, WMC and L2 proficiency. AUTHOR's (2010) findings indicate that bilingual lexical access entails underlying processes such as cue generation, set delimitation, serial search and monitoring, which to be carried out, require the allocation of attention. Attention is limited and, as a result, only higher spans were able to perform these underlying processes automatically.

Author Biography

Gicele Vergine Vieira, Instituto Federal Catarinense - Campus Blumenau

Gicele Vergine Vieira é doutora em Letras Inglês pela Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, com ênfase em Linguística Aplicada. Coordena o grupo de pesquisa Linguagem, Cognição e Tecnologia. Investiga a aquisição de língua estrangeira (L2) mediada pelo uso da tecnologia, bem como os aspectos cognitivos de aquisição e uso da L2. Atua como professora no ensino médio integrado, nos cursos de graduação e no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação do Instituto Federal Catarinense. E-mail: gicele.vieira@blumenau.ifc.edu.br.