The article describes the method and the results of the research of how Russian subjects with different level of English language proficiency recognize English sound-iconic, neutral, and non- words with the use of Lexical Decision tasks. Stimuli (20 sound-iconic words, 20 neutral words and 40 non-words) were presented visually in random order in a compressed time frame. The findings prove statistically significant delay in identification of sound-iconic words as compared to that of neutral words irrespective of the learners' level of English language proficiency. The results indicate the presence of two cognitive systems of processing the phonosemantic information displayed visually: abstract-symbolic and imagery-symbolic ones.