Verbal fluency as a window into bilingual cross-language activation dynamics.
(2026) Language, Cognition and Neuroscience — Vol. 41, n° 6, p. 777-796 (2026)
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- Authors
- Abstract
- This study explored how bilingual language experience modulates the lexical properties of words produced in an English verbal fluency task. Ninety-nine French-English bilinguals completed letter and semantic fluency trials, and the resulting words were analysed for ‘cognateness’, phonological neighbourhood density, and lexical frequency. We examined how these properties varied based on bilinguals’ L2 proficiency, immersion, and age of onset. Results showed that more proficient bilinguals and those with longer immersion produced lower-frequency words with denser phonological neighbourhoods, suggesting a larger and more integrated L2 lexicon. Earlier onset bilinguals, in contrast, produced words with higher lexical frequency than later onset bilinguals. Bilingualism effects were more pronounced in the letter condition, likely due to its broader lexical search space and higher cognitive control demands. These findings highlight how bilingual lexical activation is shaped not only by language experience and acquisition profile, but also by the cognitive and linguistic constraints of the task.
- Affiliations
School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, the University of New England, Armidale, Australia Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Studies, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany (1) School of Allied Health, (2) enAble Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Citations
Hameau, S., Khodos, I., Cholin, J., Biedermann, B., & Nickels, L. (2026). Verbal fluency as a window into bilingual cross-language activation dynamics. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 41(6), 777-796. https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2026.2663866 (Original work published 2026)