ABSTRACT

This study examined influence of age of academic L2 exposure on production of mazes in two groups of Marathi-English bilinguals varying in their English proficiency. Thirty-two adult bilingual Marathi (L1)-English (L2) speakers described three different culturally-calibrated picture cards in L2. The participants varied in ages of initial academic L2 exposure and proficiency and formed two different L2-proficiency groups. From their descriptions, pauses, repetitions, and revisions were analyzed. Results suggest that the participants with early age of L2 exposure and high L2 proficiency (early/high group) produced less number of mazes and fewer repetitions than the participants with late L2 exposure and low L2 proficiency (late/low group). The number of mazes and the types of mazes varied with the age of L2-exposure. When, findings are compared to our previous work on maze and L2-proficiency relationship, clearly maze production varies with the target language, L2 proficiency and the target tasks.