Abstract
This study examines the relative contribution of vocabulary breadth (VB) and vocabulary depth (VD) to three different listening comprehension measures. One hundred and thirteen English majors were given VB and VD tests, and three listening comprehension tests. Based on three pairs of hierarchical multiple regression analyses, we found that the relative contribution of VB and VD varied across the three listening comprehension tests. Specifically, for the listening test with an expository text dictation to assess integrative skills, both VB and VD made a unique positive contribution to comprehension, but this was greater in the case of depth. For the listening test involving narrative conversations to assess literal comprehension, neither VB nor VD (after controlling for each other) could independently predict comprehension, whereas for the listening test that comprises expository passages to assess inferential comprehension, VD could separately predict comprehension but VB could not. These findings suggest that the relative contribution of VD and VB to listening comprehension may depend on how a listening test is constructed. Therefore, the findings will contribute to listening comprehension and vocabulary knowledge research, and vocabulary teaching and learning.
Highlights
According to the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007), comprehension depends on highquality lexical representations, and it can be inferred that vocabulary knowledge should play a significant role in second language listening
After examining the predictive roles of vocabulary depth (VD) and vocabulary breadth (VB) in the English listening comprehension of 73 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, Dabbagh (2016) revealed that VD explained 72% of L2 listening variance and that VB did not make a statistically significant contribution to L2 listening variance. These results indicate that the relative contribution of VB and VD to L2 listening varies across different studies, and that the extent to which VB and VD contribute to L2 listening comprehension is far from clear
The results showed that the relative contribution of VD and VB to listening comprehension depended on how listening comprehension was assessed
Summary
According to the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007), comprehension depends on highquality lexical representations, and it can be inferred that vocabulary knowledge should play a significant role in second language listening. Many empirical studies have found that vocabulary knowledge relates closely to second language (L2) listening comprehension (Kelly, 1991; Bonk, 2000; Mecartty, 2000; Stæhr, 2009; Matthews and Cheng, 2015; Dabbagh, 2016; Vafaee and Suzuki, 2020; Wallace, 2020). Stæhr (2009) found that VB is the basic component of vocabulary knowledge in L2 listening comprehension and that VD cannot predict listening separately. To gain a clear picture of the relative effects of the two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge on L2 listening, more studies using multiple measures of listening are required
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