Cultural conceptualizations in the vailable lexicon of L2 and L3 EFL learners through word prototypicality and semantic networks

Cultural conceptualisations are central to how language users organise and retrieve lexical items (Sharifian, 2001; Sharifian & Palmer, 2007). Previous research has shown that languages encode cultural experiences, with lexical items representing culturally constructed schemas. These schemas shape how speakers categorise experiences, influencing the associations they make when retrieving words (Sharifian, 2009). Furthermore, studies using word association tasks suggest that certain words are more easily accessed due to their centrality within a cultural or linguistic category (Mora, 2024). This central membership is thought to be shaped through semantic prototypes, given that a prototype is considered the central case upon which the lexical meaning of a word is based (Kleiber, 1995).In this context, word association tasks and semantic networks may provide valuable insights into the mental lexicon, particularly in understanding how second language learners access and conceptualise culturally significant concepts when their first language (L1) and their second (L2) and third languages (L3) are influenced by different cultural contexts. This study examines responses to a word association task using the semantic category of LOVE from 100 participants: 50 Spanish native speakers with English as their L2 and 50 Arabic native speakers with Spanish as their L2 and English as their L3. A mix-methods approach was employed to: (1) identify the most available words across both groups based on prototypicality, and (2) determine whether cultural conceptualisations influence lexical responses and the structure of word networks, and, if so, get insights into how L2 EFL and L3 EFL learners access central associations within the semantic category of LOVE via semantic prototypes. Preliminary results suggest evidence of word prototypicality in the most available words retrieved by both groups of learners. Findings also reveal different underlying conceptual constructs of the concept of LOVE across the two groups. Although both groups conceptualise love through romantic and symbolic expressions, including references to relationships (e.g., girlfriend, couple) and cultural events or rites (e.g., Valentine’s Day, wedding), the L3 EFL learners exhibit a broader understanding of love, including familial and platonic connections (e.g., family, friend). These findings highlight the influence of cultural and linguistic backgrounds in the organization of mental lexicon, suggesting that language instruction should account for the different ways in which learners from different cultural contexts conceptualise and retrieve prototypical concepts.