THE MENTAL LEXICON AND VOCABULARY RETENTION IN EFL LEARNERS: A PSYCHOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Many learners recognise a word when it is taught but cannot recall it weeks later, which makes the psycholinguistic basis of vocabulary retention an urgent question. This narrative review synthesises published research on the mental lexicon, depth of processing, spacing and retrieval practice. The results show that lasting knowledge depends on meaningful encoding, spaced encounters and active, effortful recall; the Discussion integrates them into one account of storage and retrieval.