Author: T.I. Dotsenko, Yu.E. Leshchenko
Affiliation: Perm State Pedagogical University
Abstract:
The research aims at modelling the dynamic structure of a bilingual mental lexicon, formed in a classroom situation. The model described represents a bilingual associative-verbal network constructed with the use of materials of a prolonged free associative experiment with students of non-linguistic faculties, beginning to study English as a foreign language. The paper presents a detailed analysis of the network structure (associative-verbal pairs, nodes and between-node connections) and describes dynamic processes occurring in a bilingual mental lexicon at different stages of its formation.
Keywords: mental lexicon, classroom bilingualism, associative-verbal network, associative links, nodes, attractors