Abstract
This study investigates the effects of exposure frequency and contextual richness in reading on the acquisition of different aspects of vocabulary knowledge. An intact class of 35 secondyear English majors read an adapted story, with the target pseudo words highlighted, and then took ten carefully sequenced vocabulary tests. The test scores were subjected to multiple regression analyses. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were also conducted. The findings show that (a) frequency and contextual richness were closely related to vocabulary knowledge of spelling, grammar and syntax, with frequency playing a more influential role than contextual richness; (b) contextual richness contributed exclusively to gains in meaning and paradigmatic association, while frequency did not exert much influence in this regard; (c) knowledge of spelling and grammar was probably implicitly acquired, whereas word meaning gains required both explicit attention and conscious processing.
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