This conceptual paper explores the interplay between linguistic knowledge and memory mechanisms in language processing. While high-level proficiency remains a critical goal when learning a second language (L2), both native speakers and advanced L2 learners often struggle with real-time processing of complex structures. Existing research has yet to fully disentangle the relative contributions of grammatical and lexical knowledge to comprehension, nor adequately account for how these components influence the retrieval mechanism during sentence processing. Moving beyond traditional capacity-based models, we highlight the cue-based retrieval model, which attributes processing difficulty to similarity-based interference among memory representations. These effects are especially pronounced when competing constituents share syntactic or semantic features, leading to retrieval errors and comprehension difficulties. Although some recent studies suggest that advanced ESL learners may process sentences similarly to native speakers, differences in how they weigh cues during retrieval could still make them more prone to interference. Understanding the mechanism of cue weighting is crucial to capturing why such interference effects persist even among highly proficient learners. We propose an integrated model that incorporates linguistic proficiency in terms of grammatical and lexical knowledge as predictors that modulate cue weighting during retrieval, which reflects a speaker's susceptibility to interference. This paper advocates for treating proficiency as a multi-component construct and for incorporating L1-L2 comparisons as core elements of the existing cue-based models. We call for future research to investigate these interactions through experimental paradigms, offering a more nuanced understanding of both L1 and L2 sentence processing dynamics.

Keywords: syntactic and lexical proficiency; cue-based model; cue weighting; memory retrieval interference; syntactic and semantic processing

DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2026-3202-19

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