Effects Of Vocabulary Knowledge On Reading-to-summary Performance From Breadth And Depth Perspectives

No one can deny the indispensable role of vocabulary knowledge in language skills.Regarded as the foundation to improve proficiency of language,vocabulary knowledge has gradually developed into two dimensions,including breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.On the basis of several hypotheses indicating the connection between vocabulary knowledge and reading ability,many scholars have demonstrated the positive relationship between two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge and reading ability.In addition,they also concluded some implications for language learning and teaching.However,not all empirical research supported this connection.Many researchers pay great attention to breadth of vocabulary knowledge,regardless of depth of vocabulary knowledge.What is more,different measurements of depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension will influence the results in some degree.Taking the above problems into consideration,the present study,via the reading-to-summary,aims to investigate the relationship between vocabulary knowledge(breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge)and reading comprehension.The new measurement of reading comprehension,reading-to-summary,makes the present study different from the former.There are three related research questions:(1)What effect does breadth of vocabulary knowledge have on reading-to-summaryperformance?(2)What effect does depth of vocabulary knowledge have on reading-to-summary performance?(3)Of the three aspects of depth of vocabulary knowledge,morphology,synonymyand polysemy,which affects reading-to-summary performance to the mostextent?In this study,there are three tests,including breadth of vocabulary knowledge test,depth of vocabulary knowledge test and reading-to-summary test,and a questionnaire.Based on the previous tests,three obvious modifications are made in the present study involving the breadth of vocabulary knowledge used to measure the productive and receptive vocabulary,the depth of vocabulary knowledge consisting of synonymy,polysemy and morphology test,and reading comprehension ability measured in the way of reading-to-summary.Subjects complete the three tests and the questionnaire as required.After collecting scores of the three tests and the questionnaire,the present study adopts SPSS to analyze data and finds the following results:(1)The breadth of vocabulary knowledge has a significant and positive correlation with reading-to-summary performance(r= 0.545,sig= 0.000<0.01).(2)The depth of vocabulary knowledge also has a significant and positive correlationwith reading-to-summary performance but the correlation coefficient is lowerthan that of breadth of vocabulary knowledge(r= 0.494,sig= 0.001<0.01).(3)In terms of morphology,synonymy and polysemy of depth of vocabularyknowledge,polysemy makes the greatest contribution to reading-to-summaryperformance.According to the present results and findings of the study,the implications for vocabulary teaching and improvement of reading ability are illustrated in the last chapter.