The Relative Significance of Vocabulary Breadth and Syntactic Knowledge in the Prediction of Reading Comprehension Test Performance
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Shen Yalin
Abstract
Founded on the componential model of reading, Nation's construct of vocabulary breadth test and structuralists' view of syntactic knowledge, this paper attempts to investigate the relative significance of vocabulary breadth and syntactic knowledge in the prediction of Chinese EFL learners' reading comprehension test performance and whether the relative significance is moderated by the learners' different L2 proficiency. An experiment including three tests was carried out with 68 sophomores in Anhui Medical University. The findings show that: 1) there is a positive linear correlation between the learners' performance on a reading comprehension test and their vocabulary breadth and syntactic knowledge, with the multiple r being 0.551; 2) syntactic knowledge outperforms vocabulary breadth in predictive power and emerges as the stronger predictor of reading comprehension test performance; and the relative significance of syntactic knowledge over vocabulary breadth in the prediction of reading comprehension does not change with the EFL learners' L2 proficiency. The findings of this study provide implications for both reading instruction and remediation of learners' reading problems.
基于阅读组合模式的理论框架､Nation提出的词汇广度测试构念和结构语言学家对于句法知识的界定，本文考察了阅读组合模式中构成阅读能力的两个成分——词汇广度和句法知识对二语阅读理解成绩的预测，并试图了解此预测是否受二语水平的调节作用｡受试为68名随机抽取的大学二年级非英语专业本科生｡实验结果表明：1）受试的词汇广度和句法知识都与其阅读理解测试成绩存在线性相关关系：多元相关系数为0.551；2）相比较而言，句法知识对阅读理解测试成绩的预测能力大于词汇广度对其的预测，并且此预测不受学习者二语水平的调节作用｡
© 2011 Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press Co. Ltd., Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston and Cultural and Education Section British Embassy
Articles in the same Issue
- Message from the Guest Editor
- Developing Chinese Undergraduate English-Majors' Research Article Writing Competence
- A Study of the Effects of the Content-Based Instruction for English Majors in the Chinese Context
- A New Model in English Language Teaching in China: The Case of Shantou University
- Promoting Student Participation in Seminar Courses: A Case Study
- The Concept of “Object” in Activity Theory and Its Application in Classroom Research: A Case Study of a Phonetics Course
- Scaffolding in Teacher-Student Interaction: A Case Study in Two Oral English Classes in China
- Classroom Research in a Chinese Context: A Review
- The Relative Significance of Vocabulary Breadth and Syntactic Knowledge in the Prediction of Reading Comprehension Test Performance
- Chinese Abstracts
Articles in the same Issue
- Message from the Guest Editor
- Developing Chinese Undergraduate English-Majors' Research Article Writing Competence
- A Study of the Effects of the Content-Based Instruction for English Majors in the Chinese Context
- A New Model in English Language Teaching in China: The Case of Shantou University
- Promoting Student Participation in Seminar Courses: A Case Study
- The Concept of “Object” in Activity Theory and Its Application in Classroom Research: A Case Study of a Phonetics Course
- Scaffolding in Teacher-Student Interaction: A Case Study in Two Oral English Classes in China
- Classroom Research in a Chinese Context: A Review
- The Relative Significance of Vocabulary Breadth and Syntactic Knowledge in the Prediction of Reading Comprehension Test Performance
- Chinese Abstracts
