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 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.