On The Research On The Depth Of Vocabulary Knowledge

Vocabulary acquisition is of vital importance in the second language acquisition.Recently, scholars began to focus on receptive VS productive vocabulary as well asthe breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge. Compared with the researches on thedepth of vocabulary knowledge, the exploration into the vocabulary size has receivedmuch more attention. It was not until mid-1990s the foreign scholars began to realizethat vocabulary acquisition was not only a matter of quantity, but also should focus onthe quality---the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The researches on the depth ofvocabulary knowledge in China are much later, especially the meta-analysisresearches. Hence, this study has reviewed three studies on the depth of vocabularyknowledge abroad and five at home with the case study as the research method topresent the research status home and abroad.Three empirical studies with high citation frequency abroad and five at home areselected for research including Schmitt&Meara (1997), Schmitt (1998) and Qian(1999)’s studies in foreign countries, to studies by Chinese scholars such as WuXudong&Chen Xiaoqing (2000), Liu Shaolong (2001), as well as the comtemporarystudies carried out in recent years such as Huang Qiang (2002), Cui Yanyan&WangTongshun (2006) and Li Xiao (2007). The analysis is presented with detaileddescription and critical comments on each of them including the similarities anddifferences between the studies at home and abroad, and is intended to present theresearch status in China focusing on the inheritance, creation and the weaknesses inthe Chinese studies and is expected to find out implications for further research.After the analysis, the following major findings are obtained: Most of theresearches are based on the depth-of-vocabulary-knowledge framework proposed byNation (1995), and adopt the cross-sectional approach. Besides, most of the subjectschosen in these studies are intermediate or advanced level of language learners andfew focus on the beginners. The speed of acquiring the breadth of vocabularyknowledge is much faster than that of the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The development of receptive word knowledge precedes that of the productive wordknowledge. And there is a certain pattern of acquisition of word knowledge. Finally,the depth of vocabulary knowledge correlates with the integrated languageproficiency closely. For further research, the scopes of the study should be broadened,subjects of different characters should be involved and there should be someimprovement in the measurement of the study.