어휘크기와 깊이가 영어 읽기이해 능력에 미치는 영향

The size and depth of vocabulary knowledge of Korean EFL university students and its role in reading comprehension

The present study investigates whether the size and depth of the vocabulary knowledge of Korean EFL university students affects their reading comprehension. For this purpose, vocabulary size test (VLT) and vocabulary depth test (WAT) were employed to measure students’ size and depth of vocabulary knowledge respectively. And a reading comprehension test was administered. A total of forty English education major students in Gyeongsang province took the two vocabulary tests and the reading comprehension tests. A descriptive statistics shows that the vocabulary size of the students is 7039, and the vocabulary depth score is 120 out of 160. A correlation analysis shows that the scores of VLT, WAT, and the reading comprehension were highly correlated except for the academic level vocabulary test scores in VLT. The stepwise multiple regression results report the predictability of the scores for the reading comprehension. One of the results to note is that the R-square for the VLT score at 3000 level was the highest and this suggests that students should at least master the words at 3000 level. Vocabulary depth was also a meaningful predictor for reading comprehension and this means that the learners should be given more opportunity to increase their vocabulary depth knowledge. The study results suggest that the vocabulary size and depth are both important factors to improve reading comprehension and thus teachers need to consider investing more time for helping students improve vocabulary knowledge in the field.