Iconicity as a Decision Cue, not an Access Facilitator, in L2 Processing

While iconicity facilitates L1 processing, its role in typologically distant L2 contexts remains unclear. This study investigated whether iconicity benefits processing speed or decision accuracy in Korean learners of English versus native speakers using a lexical decision task. Results revealed a critical dissociation: iconicity did not accelerate response times for either group but significantly enhanced decision accuracy for Korean learners. These results suggest that the typological distance between Korean and English blocks the automatic embodied shortcut. Instead, Korean learners recruit iconicity as a strategic verification cue to compensate for fuzzy lexical representations. These findings suggest a modification of the Symbol Interdependency Hypothesis, proposing that in distant L2 contexts, iconicity shifts from an automatic facilitator to a compensatory strategy.