Word Knowledge and Its Relation to Text Comprehension: A Comparative Study of Chinese‐ and Korean‐Speaking L2 Learners and L1 Speakers of Japanese

Abstract

In this study, word knowledge and its relation to text comprehension was examined with 50 Chinese‐ and 20 Korean‐speaking second language (L2) learners and 40 first language (L1) speakers of Japanese. Breadth and depth of word knowledge were assessed by a word‐definition matching test and a word‐associates selection test, respectively. Text comprehension, which was assessed by recall and summary completion, was regressed with word knowledge scores. The results suggest, first, that there are some differences in the relative strengths in components of word knowledge between Chinese and Korean speakers and between L2 learners and L1 speakers. Second, L2 learners’ text comprehension is moderately correlated with breadth and depth of word knowledge, with breadth being a stronger explanatory variable, unlike the case for native speakers. Among components of word knowledge, syntagmatic association seems to be particularly important to Chinese speakers, but not to Korean speakers and to natives. Thus, L2 learners’ word knowledge and its relation to text comprehension may be influenced in a complex way by L1‐related factors.