scholarly journals The Effect of Vocabulary Knowledge on Chinese English Learners’ Reading Comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Tongqing Gu

Vocabulary knowledge is the foundation of English learning. This study, based on vocabulary knowledge frameworks, aims to further explore the effect of two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge i.e. breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge, on two types of reading comprehension tasks, i.e., standard multiple choice question and summary writing in Chinese EFL context. 124 English majors in a Chinese university were randomly selected, and their vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension ability were tested. The results of the study showed that both breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge make contributions to reading comprehension; the breadth of vocabulary knowledge has a greater predictive power on multiple-choice reading comprehension than the depth of vocabulary, while vocabulary depth was the stronger predictor of post-reading summary writing. The results indicate that teachers need to attend to vocabulary knowledge and improve learners’ reading ability by enhancing their vocabulary knowledge.

2011 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 699-702
Author(s):  
Ting Mao

Improving reading comprehension ability has always been a big concern for the English learners. It is also one of the most important parameters to measure one’s English level. Research has found that many factors may influence the learners’ reading comprehension ability. In this paper one aspect of vocabulary, word association knowledge, has been proved to facilitate reading comprehension. Through Pearson Correlation and one-eay ANOVA analysis the authors found that word association knowledge had a significant influence on reading comprehension. New words cannot make any sense to the learner until they have been integrated into other knowledge that the learner has already acquired. The vocabulary students have already acquired is something like an associative network which is closely related to their prior experience of first language acquisition and their knowledge of the world. Therefore, both the width and depth of vocabulary should be integrated into English teaching.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly M. Martinez ◽  
LaTasha R Holden ◽  
Sara Ann Hart ◽  
Jeanette Taylor

Non-cognitive factors have gained attention in recent years as potential intervention targets for academic achievement improvement in students. Two notable facets, intelligence mindset and grit, have been of particular interest. Both have been shown to consistently improve educational outcomes, although little work has focused on reading ability. We used a correlational and twin method design to preliminary test if mindset and grit could be potential intervention targets to increase reading ability. As such, we examined the relation between both grit and mindset on current, future, and change in reading comprehension ability in a twin sample. We used data from 422 twin pairs (171 monozygotic pairs, 251 dizygotic pairs) drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior and Environment (Taylor et al., 2019). Twins were on average 13 years old when the questionnaire and first reading ability measure were collected, and on average 15 years old when the second reading ability measure was collected. Weak and moderate positive correlations were found between both mindset and grit with each reading ability score and neither were significantly related to change in reading ability. Twin modeling suggested little to no common genetic or environmental influences between mindset and grit to reading ability. In total, our results do not lend support to the notion of mindset or grit being a mechanism of change for reading ability.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Moslem Fatollahi

<p>Sight translation is the oral translation of a written text and is a mixture of translation and interpreting. Sight translation is a widely-used activity in translation training programs. Yet, this mode of translation has rarely been applied as a reading instruction technique in Iranian EFL instruction context in spite of the growing interest in using sight translation in language teaching and learning. This study aims at investigating the effect of sight translation on the reading comprehension ability of Iranian undergraduate EFL students. This is a quasi-experimental study involving treatment. To this end, four reading comprehension classes involving 70 learners were divided into two groups, with the experimental one receiving reading instruction with sight translation exercises and the control group receiving reading instruction without sight translation exercises. The posttest results revealed that the experimental group performing sight translation exercises in classroom outperformed the control group who had not engaged in sight translation. This study has implications for ELT instructors and learners in an Iranian context as they can use sight translation exercises as an effective technique for improving the reading comprehension ability of their learners.</p>


Author(s):  
Theresa A Grasparil ◽  
David A Hernandez

Poor literacy achievement among English learners has contributed significantly to their high dropout rates, poor job prospects, and high poverty rates. The National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth has suggested that English learners benefit from the same direct, systematic instruction in the five essential components of reading shown effective for native-English-speaking students: phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Implementing effective reading instructional practices for English learners may reduce the literacy achievement gap between English learners and native English speakers. In this study, we used multiple regression to examine data for 1,376 third-grade Latino English learners to determine the strength of oral English proficiency, oral reading fluency, and academic vocabulary knowledge as predictors of reading comprehension proficiency. Findings of this study indicate a mismatch between English learners’ instructional needs and a widely used reading program component, assessment of words correct per minute (as a measure of oral reading fluency). Significant conclusions of this study suggest that educators seeking to promote the reading comprehension proficiency of Latino English learners consider using WCPM assessments and activities cautiously and strive to allocate more time for instruction and assessment of the prosodic dimension of oral reading fluency and academic vocabulary knowledge and skills.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Mansoor Ahmed Channa ◽  
Zaimuariffudin Shukri Nordin ◽  
Insaf Ali Simming ◽  
Ali Asgher Chandio

<p>This study aimed to investigate the teachers’ opinions in terms of reading comprehension instruction to the engineering students for bridging their difficulties in reading academic text in communication subject. The study was conducted in the four engineering departments of one university in Pakistan. Semi-structured interviews of 10 teachers were used as a qualitative instrument to collect data for this study to know the needs of engineering students in terms of reading comprehension. The data was analyzed through NVivo version 8 for interpretation of the results. This study provided the most promising findings to develop reading ability among engineering students. The findings revealed that teachers should use rereading text, text scanning, and text skimming strategies to develop reading comprehension ability of engineering students.</p>


Author(s):  
Siti Aisyah ◽  
Ratih Punamasari

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reading interest and students' reading comprehension ability. Research approach using quantitative with correlational study method. The subjects of this study were students of class VA and VB at SD Negeri Karya Bhakti totaling 90 students. The sample was taken by 47 students, then this study was obtained using a five-scale questionnaire for the Reading Interest and Reading Comprehension Ability variables using tests. Therefore, from the data obtained, it was found that a moderate relationship between reading interest and reading comprehension ability was seen from the accumulated calculation results, which was 30% such as using the time to read books in the library, while 70% is influenced by other factors such as students who are motivated by the teacher to increase reading interest so that students can to read a comprehension and other factors are also influenced from outside of students, namely when doing tasks, students are guided and assisted by parents. . Based on the results of the research above, it can be concluded that there is a positive relationship between Reading Interest and Reading Comprehension Ability in class VA and VB students of SD Negeri Karya Bhakti Odd semester of the 2019/2020 academic year.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-376
Author(s):  
Gavin Brooks ◽  
Jon Clenton ◽  
Simon Fraser

This exploratory study represents an attempt to investigate the factors that may affect the reading comprehension abilities of English as an additional language (EAL) learners. For this study, we examined a participant group of 31 (25 EAL and 6 first language English) learners studying at an international school in Japan. We assessed the participants according to four factors shown to influence reading comprehension: vocabulary knowledge, word decoding skills, reading fluency, and general linguistic ability. Our results show that differences in vocabulary knowledge show more variance in reading comprehension scores than the other factors examined in this study, highlighting the importance of vocabulary knowledge for reading comprehension. However, other factors such as reading fluency and general linguistic knowledge are also shown to be moderate to strong predictors of reading comprehension. Based on these results, we suggest that EAL learners need targeted language support to enhance academic text comprehension.


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