The Role of Language Proficiency in Word Association Behavior among Jordanian EFL Learners

The current study aims to investigate the role of L2 proficiency in the learners' word association behavior in an attempt to get better understanding of how their mental lexicon is structured. Therefore, 20 low-level, 20 mid- level, and 20 high-level Jordanian EFL learners are presented with an English twenty- verbs word association test (WAT), in order to see whether there are similarities or differences between the results of the students in these distinct groups. The main principal of this test is to present the subjects with a number of stimulus words and then to ask them to provide the first word that comes to their minds in writing. The results show that EFL learners tend to use syntagmatic word association techniques. Furthermore, the proficiency level of the students seems to have partial effect on their use of word associations. These results support Wolter's (2001) argument about the re-evaluation of the syntagmatic-paradigmatic shift in the case of non-native speakers. Key words: L2 proficiency, mental lexicon, paradigmatic, syntagmatic, word association DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/67-05 Publication date: April 30 th 2020