The contribution of affixes to productive English vocabulary knowledge for Chinese, German and Spanish learners: A comparison

Abstract

Knowledge of English affixes is commonly considered a factor contributing to L2 learners' knowledge of English words (Bauer & Nation, 1993). Although previous studies have tested learners' knowledge of English affixes as distinct components, few studies have examined how affixes directly contribute to the difficulty of producing English words. In this study, we coded the 6,302 words contained in Schmitt et al.’s (2021) Knowledge-based Vocabulary Lists for 38 common English affixes, and conducted multiple regression to determine if they contributed to word difficulty for Chinese, German, and Spanish learners relative to non-derived forms. Although, as hypothesized, words with affixes were somewhat more difficult for all L1 groups than words without, multiple regression models indicated that once word frequency and length were controlled for, the difficulties of individual affixes could differ considerably depending on learner L1. The findings highlight the importance of considering learner L1 when teaching and researching affixes and derivational forms.