Word association patterns in a second/foreign language – what do they tell us about the L2 mental lexicon?

The aim of the article is to review the findings of research into patterns of word associations in both first and second language and discuss its relevance for the understanding of L2 lexical processes. Word association studies have been used widely in areas such as psychology and first language acquisition and have resulted in detailed descriptions of word association behaviour of speakers at different ages and stages of language development. As far as research into L2 word associations is concerned, it concentrated predominantly on the differences between native and non-native association patterns, types of links between words in the L2 mental lexicon as well as the influence of general language proficiency on word association behaviour.