Resources

Below we have listed some resources connected with word association research. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point for further investigations. Resources will be added to this page regularly, so please check back from time to time to see what’s new!

Outputs created as part of the Finding, Sharing, and Losing Words project (AHRC AH/Y003020/1) are indicated with a star ⭐️.

Research Tools | Learning & Teaching Tools | Talks & Posters | Further Reading

Research Tools

  • The Word Association Data Processor (WADP) is an open-source software package created by Andreas Buerki, which automates key aspects of the processing of word association data gathered from respondents in word association tasks. Its user base is expected to be linguists and others working with word association data and employing a methodology similar to that presented in Fitzpatrick et. al. (2015). For a report on the creation and functionality of WADP, see  Buerki A. (2025) A Word Association Data Processor to Facilitate Robust and Consistent Categorisation and Analysis of Word Associations. Journal of Open Research Software, 13: 2
  • The Small World of Words project is a large-scale scientific study that aims to build a mental dictionary or lexicon in the major languages of the world and make this information widely available.
  • The lognostics website hosts a large bibliographic database, much of which is relevant to word association research. It also provides access to a range of free software packages for various kinds of lexical analysis.
  • ⭐️ We have designed a Word Association Classification Flowchart which can be used to assist researchers in classifying word association links, often in conjunction with tools such as WADP (see above).
  • ⭐️ We have designed a Word Association Research Flowchart which can be used to assist researchers when planning word association projects.

Learning & Teaching Tools

Interested in using word association in learning and teaching Cymraeg (Welsh)?

  • Many people respond to a cue word with a word that often appears before or after that word in natural speech. Such words are referred to as collocations; examples in English include black>coffee and examples in Welsh include tynnu>llun (literally to pull>picture – to take a picture). You can download the list of Welsh collocations found in our word association data by clicking here.
  • Hub words are central to networks in the mental lexicon, because they are connected to a disproportionately high number of other words we know (or need to learn). In our dataset they are words that are given as responses to lots of different cues. These are considered important words for learners to know. View our hub words by clicking here.
  • The following presentation suggests how to use our website resources for teaching/learning Welsh, and provides several activities with ideas for using word association research in the classroom. Download PDF
Word Association in the Classroom-6Download

Talks and Posters

  • ⭐️ In October 2024, the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research (CADR) invited us to talk about our project in their Webinar series. Some background information about the talk, and a link to the recording of it, can be found here: “Finding and Losing Words – Understanding the Mental Lexicon”.
  • ⭐️ At the Hiroshima Lexical Research Forum’s annual online conference in September 2024, we delivered a paper on how word association data relates to language teaching and learning. The paper was called From Word Associations to Teaching Interventions, and a recording of the talk together with some background information can be found at that link.
  • ⭐️ We presented a poster at the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) annual conference in September 2024 at University of Essex on the word associations of Welsh-English bilingual participants. The poster is titled An Analysis of Word Association Behaviour in Welsh; that link takes you to the poster itself, and the abstract is here.
  • ⭐️ At the BAAL Vocabulary SIG annual meeting at University of Leeds in June 2024 we presented a poster on Methodological Decisions in Word Association Analysis . That link takes you to the poster, and the abstract is here.
  • ⭐️ In December 2024, we presented a seminar at Swansea University for their Language Research Centre Seminar Series. The abstract and recording link can be found here .
  •  ⭐️ In April 2025 we ran a workshop for language assessors at the annual conference of the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE). Information and tasks were on the theme of Relating Word Association and Retrieval Behaviour to L2 Proficiency.  At the same conference Tess delivered a plenary presentation on Not all Words are Equal: The Learnability Factor.
  • ⭐️ Our seminar for Welsh language educators in April 2025, hosted by the National Centre for Learning Welsh, explored ways in which word association can inform language teaching and learning.

Further Reading

Fitzpatrick, T., & Thwaites, P. (2020). Word association research and the L2 lexicon. Language Teaching, 53(3), 237-274.

Playfoot, D., Balint, T., Pandya, V., Parkes, A., Peters, M., & Richards, S. (2018). Are word association responses really the first words that come to mind?. Are word association responses really the first words that come to mind?. Applied Linguistics, 39(5), 607-624.

Fitzpatrick, T., Playfoot, D., Wray, A., & Wright, M. J. (2015). Establishing the reliability of word association data for investigating individual and group differences. Applied Linguistics, 36(1), 23-50.

Fitzpatrick, T. (2012) Tracking the changes: vocabulary acquisition in the study abroad context.  Tracking the changes: vocabulary acquisition in the study abroad context.  Language Learning Journal, 41(1), 81-98.

Fitzpatrick, T. & Izura, C. (2011) Word association in L1 and L2: An exploratory study of response types,  response times and interlingual mediation. Word association in L1 and L2: An exploratory study of response types,  response times and interlingual mediation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 33(3), 373-398.

Fitzpatrick, T. (2007) Word association patterns: unpacking the assumptions.  Word association patterns: unpacking the assumptions.  International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(3), 319-331.

Fitzpatrick, T. (2006) Habits and rabbits: Word associations and the L2 lexicon Habits and rabbits: Word associations and the L2 lexicon. EUROSLA Yearbook 6, 121-145.