Contributions toward Understanding the Acquisition of Eight Aspects of Vocabulary Knowledge

Abstract

With the intent of adding to the literature leading toward a more complete theory of second language vocabulary acquisition, this study elicited accuracy data from 110 ESL learners ranging from novice high to advanced low on 64 words randomly selected in the 2K–3K range of Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) (32 verbs, 24 nouns, 8 adjectives) covering eight aspects of word knowledge. These included spelling based on hearing the spoken form, selecting collocations based on the written form, pronunciation based on the written form, selecting inflections based on the written context, selecting the definition based on hearing the spoken form, selecting the written definition based on the written form, selecting appropriate derivations based on the written form, and selecting the written form based on the written definition. ANOVA results show accuracy levels varied across word knowledge aspects and that implicational scaling was possible with some but not all aspects of word knowledge examined simultaneously. In aggregation with other current and future studies, this has important implication for developing L2 vocabulary acquisition theory.