序

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

Chapter 1 Introduction

  1.1 Research orientation

  1.2 Target of research

  1.3 Rationale and research questions

  1.4 Definitions of key terms

    1.4.1 Bilingual

    1.4.2 L2 vocabulary knowledge

    1.4.3 Conceptual and semantic processing

    1.4.4 Working memory capacity

  1.5 Organization of the thesis

Chapter 2 Literature Review

  2.1 The bilingual mental lexicon

    2.1.1 Organization of mental lexicon

    2.1.2 Views of the relations between the L1 and the L2 mental lexicon

      2.1.2.1 Independency of the L1 and the L2 mental lexicon

      2.1.2.2 Interdependency of the L1 and the L2 mental lexicon

      2.1.2.3 Summary

  2.2 The revised hierarchical model

    2.2.1 Evidence in support of the revised hierarchical model

    2.2.2 Evidence challenging the revised hierarchical model

    2.2.3 Evidence against the revised hierarchical model

    2.2.4 Summary

  2.3 Two experimental tasks in studies of mental lexicon

    2.3.1 The primed lexical decision task and its confounding processes

    2.3.2 Word association tasks and major findings

    2.3.3 Summary

  2.4 Vocabulary knowledge and measures

    2.4.1 Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge

    2.4.2 Measures of vocabulary knowledge

    2.4.3 Summary

  2.5 Working memory

    2.5.1 Baddeley & Hitch's working memory model

    2.5.2 Working memory and the central executive

    2.5.3 Working memory capacity and language processing

    2.5.4 Measures and construct of working memory

      2.5.4.1 Measures of working memory

      2.5.4.2 Unitary versus multicomponential system of working memory

    2.5.5 Summary

Chapter 3 Central Ideas

  3.1 Bilingual lexical access

    3.1.1 Lexical access in monolingual literature

    3.1.2 Central issues of bilingual lexical access

  3.2 L2 lexical competence and the goal of L2 lexical development

    3.2.1 Proposals of lexical competence in the existing literature

    3.2.2 A tri-component framework of L2 lexical competence

    3.2.3 The goal of L2 lexical development

  3.3 A developmental view of bilingual processing

  3.4 Summary

Chapter 4 Effects of L2 Vocabulary Knowledge

  4.1 Experiment 1

    4.1.1 Hypotheses and predictions

    4.1.2 Method

      4.1.2.1 Subjects

      4.1.2.2 Materials

      4.1.2.3 Procedure

    4.1.3 Results

    4.1.4 Discussion

    4.1.5 Conclusion

  4.2 Experiment 2

    4.2.1 Hypotheses and predictions

    4.2.2 Method

      4.2.2.1 Subjects

      4.2.2.2 Materials and procedure

      4.2.2.3 Classifications

    4.2.3 Results

    4.2.4 Discussion

  4.3 Summary

Chapter 5 Effects of Working Memory Capacity

  5.1 Research questions

  5.2 Method

    5.2.1 Subjects

    5.2.2 Materials and procedure

  5.3 Analyses and results

    5.3.1 ANOVA results

      5.3.1.1 Results of the three-way ANOVA with repeated measures

      5.3.1.2 Results of the two-way ANOVA with repeated measures for the high group

      5.3.1.3 Results of the two-way ANOVA with repeated measures for the low group

    5.3.2 Correlation analyses

  5.4 Discussion

    5.4.1 Working memory capacity, processing in a second language and L2 vocabulary knowledge

    5.4.2 Working memory capacity and L2 vocabulary knowledge

  5.5 Summary

Chapter 6 General Discussion and Conclusion

  6.1 Discussion on the major findings

    6.1.1 How does the development of L2 vocabulary knowledge modify access to word meanings represented in the L2 mental lexicon of Chinese learners of English?

    6.1.2 Are there any differences in semantic and associative link patterns in the lexical networks represented in the L2 mental lexicon?

    6.1.3 How do individual differences in working memory capacity constrain access to word meanings in the L2 mental lexicon?

      6.1.3.1 Frequency effects in L2 semantic processing

      6.1.3.2 Task effect of the primed lexical decision

    6.1.4 Are there any correlations bet