First Language Influences on Multilingual Lexicons

This collection brings together recent research on the influences between first and additional languages with a focus on the development of multilingual lexicons. Featuring work from an international group of scholars, the volume examines the complex dynamics underpinning vocabulary in second and third languages and the role first languages play within this process. The book is organized around three different facets of research in this area – lexical recognition, processing, and knowledge; the effects of first languages on second language reading and writing, collocations, and translation skills; and, vocabulary testing – drawing on examples from a variety of languages, including European languages, Arabic, and Japanese. Setting the stage for further research on the interplay between first languages and multilingual lexicons, this volume is key reading for students and researchers in applied linguistics, language learning and teaching, bilingualism, second language acquisition, and translation studies.

Paul Booth is a Senior Lecturer at Kingston University (London) and course leader for the MA in Applied Linguistics for TESOL. His publications include: L1 – L2 semantic and syntactic processing: The influence of language proximity, System 78 and The variance of lexical diversity profiles and its relationship to learning style, IRAL 52.

Jon Clenton is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at Hiroshima University. His publications include Testing the Revised Hierarchical Model: Evidence from word associations. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, and Making sense of learner performance on tests of productive vocabulary knowledge. (with T. Fitzpatrick) TESOL Quarterly.