A Study Of The Impact Of Depth Of Vocabulary Knowledge On English Writing Proficiency

With the reform of college English teaching,much more emphasis has been placed upon the cultivation of learners’ communicative ability.Vocabulary knowledge is deemed as the foundation of communication,therefore it plays a significant role in improving a learners’ overall language ability.However,research on vocabulary did not attach any importance to this until the1980 s when the emphasis was put on the Breadth of Vocabulary Knowledge(BVK).It was in the late 1990 s that international scholars gradually realized that quantity was not the only aspect in learning vocabulary,therefore,they proposed the definition of Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge(DVK).The burgeoning research on DVK manifested that the focus had been transferred from the quantity of vocabulary knowledge to the quality.At present,research on DVK and language ability has almost exclusively focused on the skills of reading and listening whilst the role DVK plays in English writing has been relatively ignored.And most researchers have focused on synchronic study and not diachronic study.Meanwhile,college students spend much more time writing than they might have previously done,yet they still make little improvement.Therefore,in order to explore the role of DVK in writing proficiency,an empirical investigation of DVK is urgently needed.Given this,the present research aims to explore the current situation of DVK and English writing among sophomores;and to reveal whether the differences are significant in DVK among sophomores with regard to different English writing levels;and furthermore to discuss the correlation between DVK and English writing;and finally to study whether the teaching method of DVK can improve English proficiency.Participants involved in the research were 70 sophomores from Shandong Youth University of Political Science(SDYU).The Word Associates Test(WAT),the writing test from Public English Test System-3(PETS-3)and spoken interviews were all usedas research instruments.The researcher also conducted a teaching experiment which lasted for four months in the class.Data collected through the two tests was analyzed through the statistical method SPSS17.0.An interview was also conducted to obtain an idea of the participants’ perspective on DVK.Based on the research results,the author drew the following conclusions: Firstly,the current situation of DVK and English writing among non-English learners in SDYU is just above the medium level,and on the two aspects of DVK,learners perform better in collocation.Secondly,significant differences exist in the DVK and English writing among sophomores of different levels.Thirdly,there is significant positive correlation between DVK and English writing among sophomores.What’s more,the DVK is an effective predictor to English writing.Finally,the instruction of DVK can indeed improve English writing proficiency.According to the research findings,the author came up with some pedagogical instructions on improving a learners’ DVK.In addition,the limitations and some suggestions for further study were also provided.