*3.3. Stimuli*

Participants completed three tasks. Only the spot the difference task was analyzed as part of this study. The material in this study—i.e., the cartoon illustrations—were designed and created by the first author as part of her MA studies. The design of these illustrations were based on similar material in previous studies (Baker and Hazan 2011; Stamp 2013). The task was designed specifically to create a semi-spontaneous interaction while controlling for the production of a number of lexical items. These target items are lexical signs that differ between KQSL and ISL, and thereby created a situation of lexical competition. For example, in the left picture shown in Figure 2, a signer can describe the dog sleeping under the table by producing a lexical sign for "dog", which is signed differently in KQSL and ISL. There was a total of 32 items and concepts in the pictures, which are signed differently in ISL compared to KQSL. However, many items were repeated during

the task, and all were analyzed. The items were chosen carefully based on a number of resources, including online dictionaries and material, a KQSL dictionary (Kafr Qasem Sign Language Dictionary—Sign Language Research Lab 2013), an ISL dictionary (Israeli Sign Language Dictionary 2015), and an online resource on some lexical differences between ISL and KQSL (Berger 2017); in addition to data from previous studies (Jaraisy 2021; Stamp and Jaraisy 2021), and consultation with deaf L1 signers in the KQSL and ISL communities, respectively.

**Figure 2.** Example of a completed picture scene (kitchen scene); on the right is the picture with twelve differences circled.
