In this article we review and evaluate different explanations of the structure of the bilingual lexicon and of the internal representation of the two languages. We present evidence for and against shared or separate internal representation, and consider different conceptual models of bilingualism. We propose a theoretical model to explain the manner in which bilinguals process information. The theory extends the information-processing model developed in the context of unilingual performance and this model may be able to explain some of the discrepancies concerning the psychology of bilingualism, which have been reported in the literature.
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