The developmental trajectories of L2 lexical-semantic networks

Abstract

This study explored the developmental trajectories of L2 Lexical-semantic networks by comparing the structure of lexical-semantic networks of Chinese EFL learners at two levels of English: intermediate and advanced. Analyses of data from semantic fluency tasks found that with the improvement of language proficiency, the L2 lexical-semantic network becomes more connected but less centralized. Analyses of community structure revealed that the lexical-semantic network of advanced learners has denser clusters than that of intermediate learners. Examination of individual words in the L2 lexical-semantic network shows that words tend to reorganize themselves with the expanse of the network. In this process, more frequent and connected words tend to remain in the network as central words while less frequent words with fewer connections have the risk of being lost, although a large number of new words keep joining in the network. The results provide empirical evidence for the preferential attachment model of lexical-semantic network growth.