Vocabulary Opens the Door; Creativity Guides the Search: Complementary Contributions to Second Language Semantic Fluency Across Domains

Abstract Semantic fluency, the ability to retrieve words within a category, relies on lexical knowledge, semantic memory and executive control mechanisms. A richer, interconnected semantic memory and optimal executive control, as seen in creative individuals, enhance fluency through broad associative searches and quicker access to remote concepts. However, the extent to which this creativity‐related advantage in the first language (L1) extends to second language (L2) remains largely unexplored. Using a combination of inferential analyses, we examined how productive vocabulary knowledge and creativity relate to L2 semantic fluency in a sample of 60 Spanish 12th‐grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. L2 semantic fluency was measured using two semantic fluency tasks. Findings suggest that vocabulary provides the necessary basis for creativity to operate and that although creativity enhances L2 semantic fluency in semantically broad domains, verbal flexibility serves a compensatory function in more constrained categories. Further analyses of lexical production patterns and retrieval strategies lent support to these findings.