Associations were obtained from 40 subjects (Ss) each at National Taiwan University and the University of Maryland to words presented either vocally or in writing. The words varied in frequency of occurrence for both languages. American Ss produced more associations that the Taiwanese Ss under all conditions. In both samples number of associations increased with frequency of the stimulus words. Printed Chinese enjoyed a significant advantage over spoken Chinese in evoking associations to infrequent words. This finding, which did not hold for the English words, was attributed in part to a relatively greater degree of ambiguity introduced by the spoken mode for the infrequent Chinese words. An analysis of the associations tended to support this hypothesis, as did ratings by Chinese and American Ss of frequency of contact with the words in writing and in speech. (Author/FWB)