Semantic Categorization in L1 and L2: Calculating Distances

Aims and Objectives: The objective of this paper is to explore how learners organize and access their mental lexicon in the L1 and L2 and to look for similarities and differences in these processes. We wanted to explore the impact of L1 linguistic and cultural background on semantic categorization. Methodology: The method used includes data gathering, graph analyses and computing. Specifically, graphs were calculated from experimental data and, then, distances among the graphs were computed. Data and Analyses: Data were obtained from 430 English as a foreign language (EFL) learners from a Spanish background aged 15–16. Analyses compared English and Spanish semantic categorization data. Several analyses using different methodologies were conducted (based on vectorization of networks, computing distances by means of metrics and spectral vectorizations) and found similar conclusions. Findings: Our results suggest that the thematic axis outweighs the language axis for Spanish learners of English in semantic categorization. Furthermore, the direction of links and their weights seems irrelevant: this might point to a high homogeneity in semantic categorization. Originality: To our knowledge, this is the first time these methods are used on a large sample of experimental linguistic data. Significance: Our results provide further evidence of a semantic categorization process which is shared by speakers and learners of different languages, showing that semantic similarity is an overriding factor over language in categorization, either because of a shared conceptual space or as a result of a translation process from L1 into L2/EFL.