Lexical Access in L2 Speech Production: a Controlled Serial Search Task

Abstract When it comes to lexical access in L2 speech production, working memory (WM) seems to play a central role, as less automatized procedures require more WM capacity to be executed (Prebianca, 2007). With that in mind, this article aims at claiming that bilingual lexical access qualifies as a controlled serial strategic search task susceptible to individual differences in WM capacity. Evidence in support of such claim is provided by the results of Prebianca (2010) study conducted so as to investigate the relationship between L2 lexical access, WMC and L2 proficiency. Prebianca (2010) findings indicate that bilingual lexical access entails underlying processes such as cue generation, set delimitation, serial search and monitoring, which to be carried out require the allocation of attention. Attention is limited and, as a result, only higher spans were able to perform these underlying processes automatically.