Association among vocabulary size, academic achievement, English language proficiency, and language dominance
Vocabulary is acknowledged as a key to Second Language (L2) proficiency (Coady, 1997) and previous studies suggest that learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) need a vocabulary size of 9000-word families to comprehend academic texts at tertiary level (Nation, 2007). Earlier studies also s...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/67084/1/FBMK%202017%204%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | Vocabulary is acknowledged as a key to Second Language (L2) proficiency (Coady,
1997) and previous studies suggest that learners of English as a Second Language
(ESL) need a vocabulary size of 9000-word families to comprehend academic texts at
tertiary level (Nation, 2007). Earlier studies also showed that a significant positive
correlation exists between learners’ vocabulary size and academic achievement. In
previous studies on ESL learners' vocabulary knowledge, different variables have been
found to be related to bilingual learners’ inadequate vocabulary size. As the 2nd year
Malay ESL learners of the current study are bilinguals, it is hypothesized that their
dual language profile can provide evidence of their language dominance, which may
be related to their overall vocabulary size. Therefore, this study measured Malay ESL
learners’ vocabulary size and language dominance at tertiary level and the relationship
between vocabulary size, academic achievement, language proficiency, and language
dominance, and the extent to which variance in academic achievement can be
explained by these factors. Ninety-six students from four undergraduate programmes
offered at University Putra Malaysia were recruited using stratified sampling
technique and their vocabulary size and language dominance were measured using
two sets of questionnaires. The 20,000 Vocabulary Size Test (Version A) was used to
measure receptive vocabulary size, and the Bilingual Language Profile (BLP) was
used to measure language dominance. The learners’ Cumulative Grade Point Average
(CGPA) and the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) scores were obtained
from their academic transcripts. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics,
correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results show that 92% of
the participants studied in the present study have a vocabulary size beyond 9,000 word
families. A moderate and positive association was found between receptive
vocabulary size and English language proficiency, language dominance and academic
achievement. Receptive vocabulary size was found to be the only predictor of
academic performance when compared with other variables such as language
proficiency, and language dominance. The study shows that on average Malay ESL learners at tertiary level have knowledge of about 11,268-word families of vocabulary.
Although the result showed that vocabulary size, language proficiency, and language
dominance have a significant association with academic achievement, vocabulary size
is the only significant contributor to academic achievement, and it is predicted to
contribute as much as 25% towards academic achievement. The findings indicate
value in fostering frequent vocabulary testing at tertiary level in order to support
learners with inadequate vocabulary sizes. The use of VST in this study proved to be
useful for helping lecturers to determine the kind of attention they should pay to
vocabulary for particular groups of learners. Moreover, the findings suggest that the
VST maybe a reliable and cost-effective post enrolment screening tool of tertiary level
learners in ESL settings. This understanding of Malay ESL tertiary learners’ receptive
vocabulary knowledge can help language planning and policy maker in designing
appropriate syllabus, language courses, and offer operational strategies to enhance
vocabulary knowledge so that the learners can do well in their tertiary level studies. |
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