Productive Vocabulary Knowledge Research Articles

Exploring the Influence of Word Exposure via Facebook on Young EFL Learners’ Written Form of Word Knowledge

This quantitative study aimed to investigate the impact of word exposure via Facebook on thevocabulary knowledge of Thai EFL primary school learners. Additionally, it sought to examinedifferences in receptive and productive written forms of word knowledge between differenteducation levels. It explored the relationship between participants’ vocabulary size and wordknowledge. Forty students from grades four and six participated in the study, which involveddesigning and validating tests to measure receptive and productive written forms of wordknowledge. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze quantitative data.The findings indicated significant improvements in students’ receptive and productivevocabulary knowledge, with noticeable development in their understanding of word spelling.Furthermore, grade six learners performed better than grade four learners on receptive andproductive written form measures. Correlational analysis revealed a relationship betweenvocabulary size and knowledge of written forms, indicating their interdependency. Overall, thisstudy suggests that exposure to words through Facebook positively influences vocabularyacquisition, underscoring the importance of word exposure experiences in learning vocabulary.Additionally, it highlights the predictive role of vocabulary size in the written form of wordknowledge. This study offers implications for practitioners and provides suggestions for futureresearch directions.

University students’ academic vocabulary development through mobile-assisted learning: Exploring the impacts on receptive and productive knowledge

This study explored the effectiveness of mobile-assisted vocabulary learning through digital flashcards on receptive and productive aspects of academic vocabulary knowledge among Iranian EFL university students. In a quasi-experimental design, 86 participants were divided into three groups: a digital flashcard group (DFs), a traditional paper flashcard (PFs) group, and a control group using word lists, to assess the impact of these methods on vocabulary acquisition over five weeks. The findings revealed that students utilizing DFs exhibited significant improvements in both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge compared to those using PFs and the control method. Notably, the increase in receptive vocabulary was more substantial than in productive vocabulary, highlighting the differential effects of DFs on various aspects of vocabulary learning. This finding underscores the need for targeted strategies to enhance productive aspects of academic vocabulary specifically. The study supports the integration of DFs into English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs to leverage their potential in boosting vocabulary acquisition effectively. However, the lesser gains in productive vocabulary suggest the necessity for complementary instructional methods, which focus on more active vocabulary learning tasks. Based on these findings, the study argues that mobile-assisted vocabulary learning should be considered a practical strategy for supporting academic vocabulary development among university students.

Multimedia enhanced vocabulary learning: The role of input condition and learner-related factors

This study explored the effects of different types of input (verbal-only vs. verbal plus content-related nonverbal vs. verbal plus paralinguistic-related nonverbal) on vocabulary learning from multimedia. It also investigated how learning was moderated by three learner-related factors (prior vocabulary size, phonological short-term memory (PSTM) capacity, and comprehension of the input). Forty-three English learners of French first completed a French vocabulary size test, a vocabulary pre-test, and a PSTM test online. They then viewed three sets of multimodal teaching materials, each with a different type of input condition, followed by a vocabulary post-test and a comprehension test. Findings indicated that multimodal input including additional nonverbal information was more beneficial than traditional verbal-only input for productive vocabulary knowledge gains. Additionally, comprehension of the input was the most important moderator for the learning gains, especially when the input included paralinguistic-related nonverbal information. The findings provide novel insights into theories of multimedia learning and have pedagogical implications for the design of multimodal language learning materials.

Vocabulary learning strategies in extramural English gaming and their relationship with vocabulary knowledge

Research has shown that students learning English as a foreign language can enhance their vocabulary knowledge through exposure to the target language outside of school. However, little is known about whether certain extramural activities have stronger links with vocabulary acquisition than others, and more crucially, the extent to which the vocabulary learning strategies that learners employ during extramural English encounters affect vocabulary learning outcomes. The study reported in this article investigated the relationship between the vocabulary learning strategies employed by 116 students in a Norwegian secondary school when gaming extramurally in English, their gaming frequency, engagement in other EE activities besides gaming, and their receptive and productive English vocabulary knowledge. The findings revealed that inferencing, using language references, and notetaking when gaming statistically significantly correlated with participants’ productive vocabulary knowledge, whereas only inferencing predicted their receptive vocabulary knowledge. Moreover, a negative link was discovered between playing driving games and receptive vocabulary knowledge.

Exploring the Vocabulary Knowledge of EFL Teachers in Saudi Public Schools

The present study investigated the nature of the vocabulary levels of male and female EFL teachers in Saudi schools and identified the receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge between male and female EFL teachers in Saudi schools. The study adopted a quantitative approach and collected the data through an online version of receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge tests. The findings revealed that male and female EFL teachers had low levels of vocabulary knowledge. Further, the findings revealed that EFL teachers at Saudi schools typically possess higher receptive vocabulary levels than productive vocabulary. The findings also indicate that gender substantially influences the vocabulary knowledge of EFL teachers. Finally, the study provides several implications and recommendations for further studies.

Neural activity related to productive vocabulary knowledge effects during second language comprehension

Second language learners and educators often believe that improving one’s listening ability hinges on acquiring an extensive vocabulary and engaging in thorough listening practice. Our previous study suggested that listening comprehension is also impacted by the ability to produce vocabulary. Nevertheless, it remained uncertain whether quick comprehension could be attributed to a simple acceleration of processing or to changes in neural activity. To identify neural activity changes during sentence listening comprehension according to different levels of lexical knowledge (productive, only comprehensive, uncomprehensive), we measured participants’ electrical activity in the brain via electroencephalography (EEG) and conducted a time-frequency-based EEG power analysis. Additionally, we employed a decoding model to verify the predictability of vocabulary knowledge levels based on neural activity. The decoding results showed that EEG activity could discriminate between listening to sentences containing phrases that include productive knowledge and ones without. The positive impact of productive vocabulary knowledge on sentence comprehension, driven by distinctive neural processing during sentence comprehension, was unequivocally evident. Our study emphasizes the importance of productive vocabulary knowledge acquisition to enhance the process of second language listening comprehension.

A study of L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition through different translation tasks

To date, most studies have focused on IVA through reading, speaking and listening, with few research on the function of translation tasks. This study investigates the effectiveness of different translation tasks on college student L2 IVA and retention. 60 Chinese College students taking English as L2, were divided into 2 parallel groups, finished different translation tasks (L1-L2 and L2-L1) respectively, and then underwent immediate and delayed vocabulary post-tests. The results showed that (1) both translation tasks facilitate learners’ L2 IVA with L1-L2 translation task performing better; (2) L1-L2 translation task generates a higher level of productive vocabulary knowledge; (3) the IVA of both tasks decrease dramatically over time, and the advantage of L1-L2 in promoting higher level of vocabulary knowledge gradually vanishes. The findings enrich the scope of IVA study, verify the value of translation exercise on L2 IVA and provide useful and practical implications for IVA teaching and learning.

Measurement of Language Knowledge as a Controversial Elaborative Linguistic Framework

This article is an attempt to determine the significance of vocabulary knowledge by describing its components and features on the basis of different existing models in such a way as to explore the language knowledge measurement criteria and find out the extent to which language knowledge is adequately measured. In fact, a plethora of research has been conducted on teaching and learning vocabulary, and testing vocabulary size. Though this linguistic element has been a controversial issue for so long, many scholars in the field of linguistics agreed upon the utility and the crucial role it has in relation to language teaching, learning, and testing. However, the investigation of the vocabulary knowledge takes into consideration three different aspects. The first aspect deals with vocabulary measurement, with the clarification of the differentiation between language knowledge in terms of its inference and language performance in terms of its observation. The second aspect examins the meaning of “word knowledge” by distinguishing between receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The third aspect deals with the qualitative aspect of the learners’ vocabulary knowledge in terms of understanding by identifying “breadth” and “depth”. This article also paves the way for the review of vocabulary size and the counting of family words on the basis of rigorous empirical studies in this field.

The Role of Chinese Vocabulary Knowledge in Composition Writing among Upper Elementary School Students

The present study aims to investigate the role of vocabulary knowledge in composition writing among Chinese children. Drawing on Nation’s (2001) vocabulary framework, this study operationalized Chinese vocabulary knowledge from receptive and productive perspectives and in form, meaning, and use domain, respectively. A total of five measures assessing receptive vocabulary knowledge, productive vocabulary knowledge (form, meaning, and use), and composition writing skills were administered to 249 Chinese students in grade 4 (N = 91), grade 5 (N = 90), and grade 6 (N = 68). Hierarchical regression results showed that across upper elementary grades, productive vocabulary knowledge made a significant and substantial contribution to Chinese writing performance after controlling for age and receptive vocabulary knowledge. Inspections on vocabulary knowledge in each individual domain further revealed that knowledge of vocabulary form was the strongest predictor of writing performance at grade 4, while knowledge of vocabulary meaning and use make increasing contributions to composition writing at higher grades. Findings from this study underline the relative importance of productive vocabulary knowledge in form, meaning, and use at different developmental stages and extend writing models to non-alphabetical languages. Pedagogical implications were also drawn from the present study to inform better educational practices on scaffolding beginning writers with specific aspects of vocabulary knowledge.

Utilizing Facebook Input to Enhance Vocabulary Knowledge in Young EFL Learners

This mixed-methods study investigated the role of Facebook in enhancing Thai EFL primary school learners’ vocabulary knowledge. The study's primary goal was to examine how using Facebook as an instructional platform improves the written form of English vocabulary knowledge. Twenty-four primary school students, aged 11-12, participated in this study. Two tests were designed and validated to measure students’ receptive and productive knowledge of word form. A focus group was also used to gain deeper insight into students’ perspectives on the impact of Facebook input on vocabulary learning. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze quantitative data, while content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The results showed that students significantly improved their receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge, and the knowledge of word form (written) developed along the receptive-productive continuum. Additionally, the qualitative findings showed the usefulness of Facebook input. Indeed, the participants viewed the Facebook input as an inviting and stimulating atmosphere and a helpful platform to acquire vocabulary by engaging and sharing with their peers in the learning activity. Overall, the study indicates that Facebook input is an efficient alternative platform for vocabulary teaching. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future studies are also provided.

Predictors of English Medium Instruction academic success in Vietnamese Higher Education

Abstract Recent research has investigated predictors of English Medium Instruction (EMI) academic success in Higher Education in various contexts; however, mixed findings have been reported, and empirical research in emerging contexts like Vietnam is relatively scarce. In addition, little is known about the associations between tertiary EMI outcome, gender, and high school performance. To fill these research gaps, the present study was conducted to explore the roles of gender, high school grades, English language proficiency and vocabulary knowledge (both receptive and productive knowledge) in Vietnamese tertiary EMI academic achievement. To this end, 78 Vietnamese undergraduates majoring in business studies participated in the study. The participants took the Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt et al. 2001) and Productive Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1999) to measure their receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Their English language proficiency test scores, EMI course grades, and high school grade point average (GPA) were also collected for data analysis. Simple linear regression analyses revealed that high school GPA, English language proficiency together with both receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge significantly predicted EMI academic outcome while gender did not. The results are discussed with implications for EMI in Higher Education.

Teachers’ receptive and productive vocabulary sizes in English-medium instruction

ABSTRACT Despite the growing popularity of English-medium instruction (EMI), the conditions for and consequences of teaching and learning academic content through English are poorly understood. The ability of teachers in the EMI environment (i.e. disciplinary or ‘content’ teachers) to engage students in English is central in this regard since intelligible interaction between the teacher and the students is a precondition for learning when the medium of instruction is English. Across EMI contexts, concerns have been raised about teachers’ level of English proficiency (their ability to speak, write, read and listen in English), but research measuring their English proficiency attainments is lacking. This paper focuses on a key dimension of teachers’ English proficiency: vocabulary knowledge. Teachers (n = 130) took tests of receptive and productive knowledge of general and academic English vocabulary. The testing revealed significant proficiency variation in the cohorts tested, with some teachers exhibiting very low levels (<3000 words) of receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Implications for teaching in EMI are discussed.

The Role of L2 Vocabulary Knowledge in Writing Proficiency from the Perspective of Mediating Effect of Fluency

The current study aims to probe the effectiveness and predictability of four aspects of lexical knowledge in writing proficiency of 312 Chinese university students of English as an ESL/EFL by pathways analysis of structure equation modeling. Furthermore, Bootstrapping and Monte Carlo statistical methods were used to analyze the mediation role of vocabulary fluency in the relationship between lexicons and writing proficiency. The results indicated that (a) the tested four aspects of lexicon knowledge (receptive/productive vocabulary breadth/depth) were all found to have a potential effect on writing; however, the effect of productive lexicons on writing proficiency is higher than that of receptive ones, and the effect of depth is better than that of breadth in both reception and production; (b) regression analysis demonstrated that overall lexical knowledge can account for 50 percent of the variance in writing; (c) vocabulary fluency plays a partial mediation role between vocabulary knowledge and writing ability; and (d) given the mediation role of lexicon fluency, the regression coefficient of both receptive vocabulary breadth and receptive vocabulary depth raised by 3 percent respectively; however, the regression coefficient of productive vocabulary has no changes. These findings suggest that vocabulary fluency can help language learners perform better in writing ability if only they have high vocabulary levels, especially productive vocabulary knowledge.

Productive vocabulary knowledge in L2 German: Which word-related variables matter?

In vocabulary research, factors affecting second/foreign language (L2) receptive vocabulary have been investigated extensively. However, few studies have examined factors affecting productive knowledge (i.e., form recall), especially concerning Languages Other Than English (LOTEs). Moreover, not much is known about the influence of time on L2 learners' productive single word knowledge. Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand which variables affect productive vocabulary learning in order to optimize the learning process. A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted with Dutch-speaking university learners of German (N = 64) to investigate to what extent time, frequency, cognateness, concreteness, and age of acquisition (AoA) play a role in the development of productive single word knowledge in L2 German. Results revealed that time, frequency, cognateness, and AoA together explained 28% of the variance. L2 frequency was found to be the main predictor for L2 form recall. Cognateness also played a role, although the impact was lower compared to the findings of studies on receptive vocabulary knowledge. Concreteness did not affect L2 learners’ form recall scores. Based on the results of the study, suggestions for materials and pedagogical implications will be discussed.

Imperatives in Heritage Spanish: Lexical Access and Lexical Frequency Effects

Along with declaratives and interrogatives, imperatives are one of the three major clause types of human language. In Spanish, imperative verb forms present poor morphology, yet complex syntax. The present study examines the acquisition of (morpho)syntactic properties of imperatives in Spanish among English-speaking heritage speakers of Spanish. With the use of production and acceptability judgment tasks, this study investigates the acquisition of verb morphology and clitic placement in canonical and negative imperatives. The results indicate that the acquisition of Spanish imperatives among heritage speakers is shaped by the heritage speakers’ productive vocabulary knowledge, lexical frequency and syntactic complexity. Indeed, most of the variability in their knowledge was found in their production of negative imperatives: heritage speakers show a rather stable receptive grammatical knowledge while their production shows signs of variability modulated by the heritage speakers’ productive vocabulary knowledge and by the lexical frequency of the verb featured in the test items.

The Effects of Multimodal Teaching on English Vocabulary Knowledge of Thai Primary School Students

It is increasingly prevalent in digital learning and teaching strategies for discerning a global perspective on creating the student learning experience. Multimodality is an emergent phenomenon that may influence how digital learning is designed, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic in which immersive learning environments, such as a virtual learning platform, were employed. This immersive platform may assist learners in engaging in, paying attention to, and reflecting on their learning. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of multimodal teaching on primary school learners&amp;rsquo; English vocabulary and their attitude toward the learning environment. The participants were 59 primary school students in the northeastern part of Thailand. They were divided into two groups: experimental and control groups. The former consisted of 33 students, while the latter comprised 26. Following Nation&amp;rsquo;s (2013) word knowledge framework, two tests were developed to measure participants&amp;rsquo; receptive and productive knowledge of the words. L2 vocabulary scholars validated the tests, and the reliability of the tests was checked using Cronbach&amp;rsquo;s alpha coefficient. The questionnaire was also developed to explore the participants&amp;rsquo; attitudes toward using multimodal teaching methods to improve their vocabulary knowledge. The results showed that although both groups increased their vocabulary knowledge, the statistical analysis revealed that the multimodal teaching technique significantly enhanced participants&amp;rsquo; receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The results also indicated that primary school participants had a positive attitude toward using multimodal teaching methods to improve their vocabulary knowledge. The current study suggests that the multimodal teaching method effectively improves Thai primary school learners&amp;rsquo; receptive and productive word knowledge and helps them learn new vocabulary.

The relationship between L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading proficiency: The moderating effects of vocabulary fluency

In this study, we ascertain the links between the four dimensions of L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 reading proficiency and the moderating effects of vocabulary fluency. For this purpose, 312 EFL Chinese university student volunteers were recruited from six majors at one tertiary university in Southeast China, and they took a series of vocabulary tests and the IELTS reading test. SEM and PING’S SINGLE INDICATOR INTERACTION methods were adopted to analyze the collected test data. The results indicated that (a) receptive lexical knowledge has a much closer link with reading proficiency than productive vocabulary knowledge; (b) among the four dimensions of L2 vocabulary knowledge, receptive vocabulary depth has a closer connection with reading proficiency than receptive vocabulary breadth; (c) vocabulary fluency has a substantial moderating effect on the connection between L2 vocabulary and reading proficiency; and (d) multiple regression analysis verifies that whole-word knowledge explains 49% of the variance in L2 reading testing grades. We discuss theoretical and instructional implications, focusing on the role of the four dimensions of L2 vocabulary knowledge in the vocabulary assessment criteria for developing L2 reading proficiency.

The Impact of Image-Driven Stimuli on Malaysian Young Learners’ Receptive and Productive Vocabulary

In Malaysia’s present scenario, competency in English is not a surety despite it being part of the curriculum from the very start of primary education. In view of the importance of lexical knowledge in language development and the hypothesised superiority of pictorial stimuli, the present study tested the effectiveness of an image-driven intervention for receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge development among Malaysian Year 1 students. A quasi-experimental design was utilised, involving Experimental and Control groups (totalling 159 participants). Three tiers of testing were administered – pre-testing, post-testing to measure for recall, and delayed post-testing for retention. The Experimental group experienced five imagedriven sessions designed for lexical development (one session per week, 30 minutes per session). The Control group was not accorded the same treatment. Approximately 90% of the participants belonged to the B40 (Bottom 40%) group – the group with the lowest income level in Malaysia. Despite the lack of statistical significance, our findings on the whole show development with respect to the participants’ lexical knowledge after experiencing the image-driven intervention, with raw scores clearly indicating receptive and productive vocabulary improvement at both the recall and retention stages. The study’s findings extend the current knowledge base, especially within the Malaysian domain which suffers from an unfortunate lack of similar studies focusing on lower primary learners. Also, the results appear promising (with only five treatment sessions) and pave the way for more research concerning the effectiveness of the intervention among young ESL/EFL learners.

A Longitudinal Study of Swedish Upper Secondary School Students’ Vocabulary Development

The importance of vocabulary is stressed as a central aspect of language learning. The aim of this investigation1 was to study how lexical input from a textbook and use of individual vocabulary notebooks affected Swedish upper secondary school students’ vocabulary acquisition by answering the three following research questions: What frequency levels are represented in the vocabulary taught in the textbook? To what extent does the productive vocabulary knowledge of the group, as measured by the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), change after exposure to the textbook? To what extent did the students benefit from the vocabulary notebooks? Firstly, a corpus of texts from the textbook was created and analysed to establish the frequency levels of the vocabulary in the corpus. Laufer and Nation’s Vocabulary Levels Test was then used to establish the group’s productive vocabulary knowledge. Lastly, the effectiveness of the vocabulary notebook was examined. The results indicate that the particular textbook was well-suited in terms of frequency levels and the students’ knowledge of K3 words improved, but the vocabulary notebook was not found to be effective.

Investigating Lexical Errors in Written and Spoken Productions among University Students of Business English

This study investigated the types and frequency of lexical errors made by university students of Business English in their writing and spoken production. The participants were 50 undergraduate students from a business school at the University of Ibn Zohr, Morocco. A comprehensive language assessment was conducted to measure their vocabulary size, productive vocabulary knowledge, and language proficiency. Their written essays and spoken interviews were analyzed using James' Taxonomy of Lexical Errors (1998). The results showed that the most frequent types of lexical errors made by the participants were word Distortions (46%), followed by Misformation (33%), and finally Confusion of Sense Relation (18%). The study also found a significant correlation between vocabulary size and productive vocabulary knowledge with the number and types of lexical errors made by the participants. The findings have implications for language teaching and learning, suggesting that more attention should be given to vocabulary instruction and practice to reduce lexical errors in Business English communication.