Conceptual Cross-Linguistic Influence: Exploring the L1 Lemma Mediation Hypothesis in L3 Vocabulary Acquisition

Abstract: An increasing number of students of various minority and immigrant backgrounds makes greater knowledge of the sources of cross-linguistic influence among bilingual students not only of theoretical value, but also beneficial for improving language teaching and instruction. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate conceptual cross-linguistic influence in functional bilinguals with a focus on investigating whether the context and frequency of the bilingual’s use of the two languages explain cross-linguistic influence towards an L3, and whether variation in acquisition could be explained by linguistic similarity, either factual or perceived. The present study replicated the results of Jiang (2002) regarding the effect of the L1 on the lexis of the L2 in terms of similarity evaluations, with the addition that this effect is also observable with two groups of language learners. Furthermore, the findings support the previous hypotheses that the lexical development in the L3 is not only guided by the mother tongue, but also by other previously acquired languages which is in line with the expectations of the L1 lemma mediation hypothesis (Jiang, 2000).