magazinelogo

Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science

ISSN Online: 2576-0548 ISSN Print: 2576-0556 CODEN: JHASAY
Frequency: monthly Email: jhass@hillpublisher.com
Total View: 5502711 Downloads: 1662030 Citations: 313 (From Dimensions)
ArticleOpen Access http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.009

A Review of Bilingual Lexical Representation and Cross-language Activation Mechanisms

Danping Sun

School of Foreign Languages, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, Shandong, China.

*Corresponding author: Danping Sun

Published: March 31,2026

Abstract

As a core interdisciplinary topic of psycholinguistics and second language acquisition (SLA), modern bilingual lexical processing explores the inherent rules of cross-language interaction during bilinguals’ lexical recognition, storage, and retrieval. Grounded in the core theories from John Field’s Psycholinguistics, this paper systematically reviews three dominant models of bilingual lexical storage, analyzes key operational mechanisms including cross-language activation and inhibitory control, and clarifies the action pathways of key core influencing factors such as language proficiency and similarity. It also summarizes ongoing academic debates over the automaticity of cross-language activation and the applicability of representational models, and prospects future research directions combined with global emerging trends. This review aims to provide theoretical support for optimizing L2 vocabulary teaching and enhancing bilingual competence. Current evidence confirms that bilingual lexical representation presents a gradient shared feature, and cross-language activation is regulated by multiple factors, providing new empirical support for the development of psycholinguistic theory.

Keywords

Bilinguals; Lexical Processing; Cross-Language Activation; Inhibitory Control; Lexical Representation Models

References

Aitchison, J. (2012). Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Ang, C. H., Lv, H., Zhou, Y. C., et al. (2016). The effect of vocabulary familiarity on the activation of non-target language during language understanding and switching in unskilled Chinese-English bilinguals. Psychological Development and Education, 32(1), 26-32.

Bu, X. N., & Lu, Z. (2021). Influencing factors and theoretical explanations for the asymmetry of cross-language masked priming effect. Foreign Language Teaching, 42(6), 31-36.

Chen, C., Gong, X. L., Tseng, C., et al. (2025). Bilingual language processing relies on shared semantic representations that are modulated by each language [Preprint]. bioRxiv.

De Groot, A. M. B. (1992). Bilingual lexical representation: A closer look at conceptual representations. In R. Schreuder & B. Weltens (Eds.), The bilingual lexicon (pp. 389-412). North-Holland.

Dijkstra, T., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (2002). The architecture of the bilingual word recognition system: From identification to decision. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 5(3), 175-197.

Dijkstra, T., Grainger, J., & Van Heuven, W. J. B. (1999). Recognition of cognates and interlingual homographs: The neglected role of phonology. Journal of Memory and Language, 41(4), 496-518.

Dijkstra, T., Wahl, A., Buytenhuijs, F., et al. (2019). Multilink: A computational model for bilingual word recognition and word translation. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(3), 657-679.

Field, J. (2003). Psycholinguistics: A resource book for students. Psychology Press.

Gu, L. L., Liu, X. Y., & Mei, L. L. (2025). Lexical information representation of native and second language in L2 vocabulary reading of Chinese-English bilinguals. In The 26th National Academic Conference of the Chinese Psychological Society (p. 192).

Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33(2), 149-174.

Li, Y., & Li, M. (2019). The effect of second language proficiency on the semantic representation of the mental lexicon in Tibetan-Chinese bilinguals: An ERP study. Foreign Language Research, 36(3), 42-48.

Mao, Y. F. (2023). A study on cross-language activation in bilingual lexical processing [Master’s thesis]. Jiangsu University.

Potter, M. C., So, K. F., Von Eckardt, B., & Feldman, L. B. (1984). Lexical and conceptual representation in beginning and proficient bilinguals. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23(1), 23-38.

Tarin, K., Hernández-Rivera, E., Iniesta, A., et al. (2025). When sentence meaning biases another language: An eye-tracking investigation of cross-language activation during second language reading. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (Advance online publication).

Wei, H. X., Luo, S. M., & Wen, T. T. (2021). Visual analysis of domestic lexical processing research based on CiteSpace. English Square, 28, 52-57.

Weinreich, U. (2010). Languages in contact: Findings and problems. Walter de Gruyter. (Original work published 1953)

Xu, J. F., Yang, L., & Zhang, B. Z. (2022). A study on native language activation in bilingual lexical access. Foreign Language Research, 5, 80-86.

Yang, S. Q., & Jiang, M. H. (2024). A study on cross-language activation pathways from L2 to L1 based on ERP data of lexical recognition. Journal of Chinese Information Processing, 38(4), 28-37.

Zhang, N., Wu, Z., & Wang, M. (2025). Cross-language phonological activation in bilingual visual word recognition: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 32, 2059-2089 (Advance online publication).

How to cite this paper

A Review of Bilingual Lexical Representation and Cross-language Activation Mechanisms

How to cite this paper: Danping Sun. (2026) A Review of Bilingual Lexical Representation and Cross-language Activation Mechanisms. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science10(3), 298-303.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.009