SEMANTIC ORGANIZATION, STRATEGY USE, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN BILINGUAL SEMANTIC VERBAL FLUENCY

This study of semantic verbal fluency addressed two research questions : (1) What are the between-language similarities and differences in th e performance of balanced bilinguals? (2) What is the relationship bet ween productivity and the use of a semantic grouping strategy to organ ize responses? Forty neurologically normal, bilingual adults were test ed twice in each language (French/English), in a 2 (Language) by 2 (Te st) by 2 (Group) design. On Test 2, half the 40 subjects were instruct ed to group items by subcategory, while half simply repeated the test, Results showed (1) many more between-language similarities than diffe rences and (2) no between-group differences in productivity. (C) 1997 Academic Press.