Abstract
<p>There are many factors that contribute to one’s ability to read effectively. Vocabulary size is one important factor that enhances reading comprehension. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between students’ reading comprehension skills and their vocabulary size. A total of 129 pre-university students undergoing an intensive English language programme at a public university in Malaysia participated in this study. A correlational analysis was employed to ascertain the relationship between scores in the reading comprehension component of the institutionalised English Proficiency Test (EPT) and the Vocabulary Levels Tests (Nation, 1990). Based on Pearson product moment correlation coefficient, there was a moderate correlation (r=0.641) between scores in the EPT reading comprehension and Vocabulary Levels Tests. The relationship was statistically significant at p&lt;0.01 level. The findings also indicate that all students (100%) were able to fulfil the minimum admission requirements for the reading skill (Band 5.5) in the EPT even though only half of the students (54.3%) reached the mastery level at the 5,000 word level. The findings provide useful insights into the prediction of ESL students’ performance in reading and the teaching of vocabulary in the ESL context.</p>
Highlights
Reading plays a crucial role in the acquisition of a language, in second and foreign language learning
The findings highlight the fact that even though the students are at the lower elementary level (Level One) to intermediate level (Level Four) of English language proficiency based on the English Proficiency Test (EPT), their reading ability and, to a certain extent, vocabulary size are quite advanced when compared to other language skills such as speaking, writing, and listening
The correlational analysis demonstrates that the higher the scores in the reading comprehension test, the higher are the scores in the vocabulary levels test
Summary
Reading plays a crucial role in the acquisition of a language, in second and foreign language learning. Laufer and Sim (1985) claim that in acquiring a foreign language, a learner needs to have sufficient vocabulary knowledge, subject matter knowledge and syntactic structure. Curtis (1987) claims that students’ ability to acquire new knowledge could be affected if they have low vocabulary knowledge. It is crucial to know what it takes for a learner to understand what he/she is reading when challenged with reading texts of academic nature. For this reason, this study attempts to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension of academic texts and vocabulary size of learners
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