ASSESSING THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUTOMATICITY IN 2ND-LANGUAGE WORD RECOGNITION

This study investigated the development of automaticity in second lang uage word recognition. In an earlier study (Segalowitz & Segalowitz, 1 993) we demonstrated that a reduction in the coefficient of variation of lexical decision reaction time (CVRT) - the standard deviation of r eaction time divided by mean reaction time (RT)-reflects a restructuri ng of underlying cognitive processing mechanisms in the direction of i ncreased automaticity and not a simple speed-up of those mechanisms. I n the current study, English speakers studying French performed multip le lexical decision tasks. Differences in CVRT were compared cross-sec tionally and longitudinally. As in the earlier study, cross sectional analyses showed that CVRT correlated positively with RT for initially fast, but not initially slow, responders. CVRT also correlated positiv ely with RT in longitudinal analyses. These results confirm that, with extended learning experience, the cognitive components underlying wor d recognition are restructured (automatized) and not simply speeded-up .