This paper concerns itself with the process of conceptualization, which is understood as on-line conceptual and linguistic formation of messages prior to verbalization. The issue is discussed in terms of Levelt’s (1989) model of speech production and von Stutterheim’s (2003) paradigm for text analysis. In particular, the paper looks into the claims advanced by von Stutterheim regarding the role of grammatical aspect in the construal of events, which may be either closed or open-ended, the perspective taken by the speaker and the resultant amount of information packaged into utterances. Even though the underlying theory constitutes a consistent framework, the incoming research data is beginning to show divergent stylistic preferences within aspectually related language types. This calls for careful examination of the existent findings, with emphasis on specific languages and/or language pairings rather than broad typological categories. The paper ends with predictions regarding event encoding patterns in Polish, as these are likely to influence L2 encoding preferences.

This paper presents the results of a study of how Polish-English bilinguals conceptualise and process picture - cues in their native language (LI). The study sought to discover whether and to what extent advanced proficiency in a second/foreign language has an observable impact on concept representation and language use in the LI. The underlying assumption was that each of the bilingual's languages is represented at three distinct levels, i.e. the lexical, semantic and conceptual level (Pavlenko 2002), and that concepts are stored in a representation common to both languages (De Groot 2002), while words and their meanings are stored in separate lexicons. Following from this, the contention is that L2 lexical transfer into the LI could have its source in the conceptual system, which is affected by both proficiency in the bilingual 's languages and the manner as well as context of language use (Pavlenko 2002). The findings will be discussed in the light of current research into bilingualism and within the framework of Cook's (1996) theory of multi-competence.

This paper examines the notion of conceptual transfer within the framework of current psycholinguistic research into bilingual memory and multi-competence. In particular, it seeks to delimit the form and direction of conceptual transfer in the bilingual lexicon, as well as outlining the conditions for its occurrence. These are discussed in relation to the data collection methods employed to date, and in the light of recent findings and developments in the area of psycholinguistics and bilingualism.