Breadth or Depth: The Role of Vocabulary Knowledge in Iranian EAP Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance
الموضوعات :اسماعیل فقیه 1 , فائزه نعمتی 2
1 - Department of English, South Tehran Branch ,Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Department of English, South Tehran Branch ,Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
الکلمات المفتاحية: reading comprehension, vocabulary breadth, depth of vocabulary knowledge,
ملخص المقالة :
Two main features of vocabulary knowledge, namely breadth and depth, have a fundamental role in vocabulary research. This research aimed to study the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension, and to investigate which feature of vocabulary knowledge, breadth or depth, had better impact on identifying reading comprehension performance. Therefore, three language tests were used, including a reading comprehension test, Vocabulary Levels Test, and Word Associates Test. 64 students majoring in Medicine at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran, participated in the study. The outcomes of the two-tailed Pearson Correlations and multiple regression analyses declared that test results on vocabulary breadth, depth of vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension were positively correlated and breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge were closely interrelated.
Akbarian, I. H. (2010).The relationship between vocabulary size and depth for ESP/EAP learners. System, 38(3), 391-401.
Briggs, D.J., Collins, S., Elliot, P., Fischer, P., Kingham, S.,& Lebret, E.( 1997). Mapping urban air pollution using GIS: a regression-based approach. Int J Geogr Inf Sci 11(7):699–718.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TSOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213 – 238.
Cummins, J. (2002). Learning through target language texts. In K. Nakajima (Ed.), Learning Japanese in the network society (pp.105-122). Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://books.google.com/books
De Bot, K., Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. B. (1997). Toward a lexical processing model for the study of second language vocabulary acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 309-329.
Evans, S., & Green, C. (2007). Why EAP is necessary: A survey of Hong Kong tertiary students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(1), 3 – 17.
Farvardin, M. T., & Koosha, M. (2011). The Role of Vocabulary Knowledge in Iranian EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance: Breadth or Depth? Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(11), 1575-1580.
Huang, H. F. (2006). Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge: Which Really Matters in the Academic Reading Performance of Chinese University Students? Unpublished Master’s Thesis, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Laufer, B. (1992). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In P. Arnaud, & H. Bejoint (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 126-132). London: Macmillan.
Laufer, B. (1997). What’s in a word that makes it hard or easy: Some intralexical factors that affect the learning of words. In N. Schmitt., & M. McCarthy (Eds.). Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 140 – 155). Cambridge: CUP.
McMurray, B. (2007). Defusing the Childhood Vocabulary Explosion.Science 317 (5838), 631.
Nagy, W. & Scott. (2006). The State of Vocabulary Research in the Mid-1980s. In K. A. Dougherty Stahl, & M. C. McKenna (Eds.), Reading Research at Work: Foundations of Effective Practice. New York: Guilford Press. Retrieved 20 September, 2008 from http// books.google.com/books?isbn=1593852991...
Nassaji, H. (2004). The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and L2 learners' lexical inferencing strategy use and success. Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue Canadienne des Langues Vivantes, 61(1), 107-135.
Nation, I. S. P. (1982). Beginning to learn foreign vocabulary: A review of the research. RELC Journal, 13, 14-36.
Nation, I. S. P. (1990).Teaching & learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.
Nation, I.S.P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. New York: CU
Nurweni, A., & Read, J. (1999).The English vocabulary knowledge of Indonesian university students. English for Specific Purposes, 18(2), 161-175.
Qian, D. D. (1999). Assessing the roles of depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension. Canadian Modern Language Review/La revue Canadienne des Langues Vivantes, 56(2), 282-308.
Qian, D. D. (2002). Investigating the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic reading performance: An assessment perspective. Language learning, 52(3), 513-536.
Read, J.(1993). The development of a new measure of L2 vocabulary knowledge. Language Testing 10, 355-371.
Read, J.( 2000). Assessing Vocabulary. Cambridge, UK:Cambridge University Press
Read, J., 2004. Plumbing the depths: how should the construct of vocabulary knowledge bedefined. In P. Bogaards, & B. Laufer, B. (Eds.), Vocabulary in a Second Language
( pp.209-227). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Richards, J. C. (1976). The role of vocabulary teaching. TESOL Quarterl. 10, 77-89.
Schmitt, N., Schmitt, D., & Clapham, C., (2001). Developing and exploring the behaviour of two new versions of the vocabulary levels test. Language Testing, 18, 55- 88.
Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: Practice and theory. Cambridge: CUP.
Vermeer, A. (2001). Breadth and depth of vocabulary in relation to L1/L2 acquisition and frequency of input. Applied Psycholinguistics, 22(02), 217-234.
West, M.(1953). A general service list of English words. London: Longman
Worthington, D., & Nation, I. S. P. (1996). Using texts to sequence the introduction of new vocabulary in an EAP course. RELC Journal, 27(2), 1–11
Xue, G., & Nation, I. S. P. (1984). A university word list. Learning and Communication,3(1), 215 – 229.
