Contribution of different aspects of vocabulary depth knowledge to reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers.
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| Title: | Contribution of different aspects of vocabulary depth knowledge to reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers. |
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| Authors: | Liu, Yichang1 simonzhangdb@gmail.com, Zhang, Dongbo2 d.zhang4@exeter.ac.uk |
| Source: | Reading in a Foreign Language. Jun2025, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p62-84. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Reading comprehension, *Linguistic context, *English language education, Semantic network analysis, Polysemy, Multilevel models, Lexicon |
| Abstract: | Few studies aimed to disentangle different aspects of vocabulary depth (VD) knowledge and examine their contribution to second-language (L2) reading comprehension. To fill this gap, this study distinguished between two VD aspects, that is, semantic network knowledge and polysemous knowledge; and tested how they, together with vocabulary size (VS), predicted reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers who were international students at UK universities. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that both VD aspects were a significant, unique predictor of reading comprehension, while VS was the dominant predictor. Differential patterns, however, were revealed when VD and VS were regressed on different reading comprehension tasks. For the "banked cloze" and "sentence matching" tasks, while VS remained as a dominant predictor, the unique effect of neither VD aspect was significant. In contrast, for the "passage comprehension" task, all three VS and VD measures were significant, unique predictors, showing a relatively balanced contribution to reading comprehension. The two VD aspects collectively demonstrated a stronger effect on reading comprehension than did vocabulary size. These findings underscored the importance of VD in L2 reading comprehension and also suggested that L2 readers may utilize their lexical repertoire differentially to cope with varied task demands and comprehension needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Reading in a Foreign Language is the property of Reading in a Foreign Language and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 187244421 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Contribution of different aspects of vocabulary depth knowledge to reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Liu%2C+Yichang%22">Liu, Yichang</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> simonzhangdb@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Zhang%2C+Dongbo%22">Zhang, Dongbo</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> d.zhang4@exeter.ac.uk</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Reading+in+a+Foreign+Language%22">Reading in a Foreign Language</searchLink>. Jun2025, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p62-84. 23p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Reading+comprehension%22">Reading comprehension</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Linguistic+context%22">Linguistic context</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+language+education%22">English language education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Semantic+network+analysis%22">Semantic network analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Polysemy%22">Polysemy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Multilevel+models%22">Multilevel models</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Lexicon%22">Lexicon</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Few studies aimed to disentangle different aspects of vocabulary depth (VD) knowledge and examine their contribution to second-language (L2) reading comprehension. To fill this gap, this study distinguished between two VD aspects, that is, semantic network knowledge and polysemous knowledge; and tested how they, together with vocabulary size (VS), predicted reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers who were international students at UK universities. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that both VD aspects were a significant, unique predictor of reading comprehension, while VS was the dominant predictor. Differential patterns, however, were revealed when VD and VS were regressed on different reading comprehension tasks. For the "banked cloze" and "sentence matching" tasks, while VS remained as a dominant predictor, the unique effect of neither VD aspect was significant. In contrast, for the "passage comprehension" task, all three VS and VD measures were significant, unique predictors, showing a relatively balanced contribution to reading comprehension. The two VD aspects collectively demonstrated a stronger effect on reading comprehension than did vocabulary size. These findings underscored the importance of VD in L2 reading comprehension and also suggested that L2 readers may utilize their lexical repertoire differentially to cope with varied task demands and comprehension needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Reading in a Foreign Language is the property of Reading in a Foreign Language and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.64152/10125/67498 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 23 StartPage: 62 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Reading comprehension Type: general – SubjectFull: Linguistic context Type: general – SubjectFull: English language education Type: general – SubjectFull: Semantic network analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Polysemy Type: general – SubjectFull: Multilevel models Type: general – SubjectFull: Lexicon Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Contribution of different aspects of vocabulary depth knowledge to reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Liu, Yichang – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Zhang, Dongbo IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02642425 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 37 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Reading in a Foreign Language Type: main |
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