The Relationship Between Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge. One hundred and fifty first‐year university students in China took the Vocabulary Levels Test, a meaning recall task, and the Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Test. The first two tests were used to elicit two types of vocabulary breadth knowledge, that is, meaning recognition (passive recognition) and meaning recall (passive recall), while the last test was used to elicit participants’ depth of vocabulary knowledge. Participants also filled out a vocabulary learning strategies survey (Schmitt, ). Structural equation modeling was employed to assess how vocabulary learning strategies predicted breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. Results indicate that strategies that focus on learning the forms and associative meanings of words are significant predictors of both vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge. However, even learning strategies of the same type may have different effects on meaning recognition and meaning recall. Implications of the results for vocabulary teaching and learning are considered.