Study Of Receptive And Productive Vocabulary Development Of Chinese Post College English Learners

This study is to investigate the receptive and productive vocabulary development of Chinese post college English students in terms of different word frequency levels. Three groups of subjects in a key university in Shanghai were involved in the present study: the first year graduates (Group 1), the third year undergraduates who took English as a second major (Group 2), and the third year undergraduates who were involved in learning their subject in a bilingual course setting (Group 3). Two vocabulary level tests composing of both receptive and productive vocabulary items at all 2,000-, 3,000-, 5,000-, academic, and 10,000-word frequency levels were carried out among all three groups of subjects in a period of two months. The results of the subjects who had attended both tests were collected and analyzed by SPSS.Data analysis suggested that, all three groups of subjects had a good lexical ability in receptive aspect while only Group 2 had a good lexical ability in productive aspect. Group 1 and 3 did not display good productive vocabulary ability; they need make special efforts to improve it. Besides, Group 2 outperformed Group 1 and 3 in both receptive and productive vocabulary, with the crucial differences taking place at 5,000- and 10,000-word frequency levels. Group 1 and Group 3 tended to show homogeneous ability at the 2,000-, 3,000-, 5,000-word frequency levels, but they have significant differences at academic and 10,000-word frequency levels, both receptively and productively. In addition, after two months'study, Group 1 subjects developed their receptive vocabulary significantly at 2,000- and 3,000-word levels, while the other two groups displayed no significant receptive change. In the productive vocabulary aspect, Group 1 displayed significant development at 3,000- and 5,000-word frequency levels; Group 2 showed significant development at 5,000- and 10,000-word frequency levels, while Group 3 displayed no significant development.It is concluded that, motivation, exposure, strategy, as well as structured, continuous language courses are the factors that count in successful vocabulary acquisition. It is then suggested that English courses should be offered through college years; and related teaching materials should include more productive contents.