Exploring the relationships between L2 vocabulary knowledge, lexical segmentation, and L2 listening comprehension

Kriss Lange,Joshua Matthews

doi:10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.4.4

Kriss Lange, Joshua Matthews

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.4.4

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Abstract

The capacity to perceive and meaningfully process foreign or second language (L2) words from the aural modality is a fundamentally important aspect of successful L2 listening. Despite this, the relationships between L2 listening and learners’ capacity to process aural input at the lexical level has received relatively little research focus. This study explores the relationships between measures of aural vocabulary, lexical segmentation and two measures of L2 listening comprehension (i.e., TOEIC & Eiken Pre-2) among a cohort of 130 tertiary level English as a foreign language (EFL) Japanese learners. Multiple regression modelling indicated that in combination, aural knowledge of vocabulary at the first 1,000-word level and lexical segmentation ability could predict 34% and 38% of total variance observed in TOEIC listening and Eiken Pre-2 listening scores respectively. The findings are used to provide some preliminary recommendations for building the capacity of EFL learners to process aural input at the lexical level.

Highlights

For some time there has been a general acknowledgement of a robust relationship between foreign or second language (L2) vocabulary breadth and L2 listening (Stæhr, 2009)
Results from Model 2 revealed similar results in that the first 1,000-word level aural vocabulary knowledge scores and lexical segmentation ability could predict 38% of variance observed within Eiken Pre-2 scores
Aural vocabulary knowledge of 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K and Academic word levels added no predictive capacity in regression models for predicting the variance in Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and Eiken Pre-2 listening scores

Summary

Introduction

For some time there has been a general acknowledgement of a robust relationship between foreign or second language (L2) vocabulary breadth and L2 listening (Stæhr, 2009). There is a growing appreciation of the specific relationship between L2 listening and aural vocabulary knowledge. We define lexical segmentation as the ability to identify multiple consecutive words in connected speech (Andringa, Olsthoorn, van Beuningen, Schoonen, & Hulstijn, 2012; Field, 2003). It is dependent upon adequate levels of single word knowledge, it is arguably just as important. This is because lexical segmentation entails accurately recognizing the boundaries between single words and the resultant capacity to map recognized words onto existing representations in the listener’s mental lexicon, known as decoding (Field, 2008a). Considering these challenges, it is unsurprising that lexical segmentation of connected speech causes considerable difficulty for L2 listeners (Field, 2008b; Lange, 2018)

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