English As A Foreign Language Vocabulary Research Articles

EFL Vocabulary Acquisition and Retention: Reading Plus Vocabulary Enhancement Activities and Narrow Reading

The purpose of this quasi‐experimental study was to compare the effectiveness of reading plus vocabulary‐enhancement activities (RV) and narrow reading (NR)— repeated reading thematically related articles—on vocabulary acquisition and retention among English as a foreign language (EFL) secondary school students. Twenty‐five third‐year male students with intermediate‐level English proficiency participated in each instructional treatment 2 hr per week for five weeks. The RV group read selected texts and practiced various vocabulary exercises. The NR group read thematically related supplemental materials besides the selected texts. A Chinese version of the modified Vocabulary Knowledge Scale was employed to assess students' knowledge of 50 vocabulary items. The results show that the RV group demonstrated significantly more knowledge about the target vocabulary than the NR group on the acquisition and retention tests. The researcher concludes that reading plus focused vocabulary exercises are more effective and efficient than the narrow reading approach in enhancing target vocabulary acquisition and retention among EFL secondary students.

Weak and strong novice readers of english as a foreign language: Effects of first language and socioeconomic status

This study examined individual differences among beginning readers of English as a foreign language (EFL). The study concentrated on the effects of underlying first language (L1) knowledge as well as EFL letter and vocabulary knowledge. Phonological and morphological awareness, spelling, vocabulary knowledge, and word reading in Hebrew L1, in addition to knowledge of EFL letters and EFL vocabulary, were measured. The study also investigated the effect of socioeconomic background (SES) on beginning EFL readers. Participants included 145 fourth graders from three schools representing two socioeconomic backgrounds in the north of Israel. The results indicate that knowledge of English letters played a more prominent role than knowledge of Hebrew L1 components in differentiating between strong and weak EFL readers. The Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis was supported by L1 phonological awareness, word reading, and vocabulary knowledge appearing as part of discriminating functions. The presence of English vocabulary knowledge as part of the discriminant functions provides support for English word reading being more than just a decoding task for EFL beginner readers. Socioeconomic status differentiated the groups for EFL word recognition but not for EFL reading comprehension.