The Relationship Between Morphological Awareness And Chinese High School EFL Learners' Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary learning is an important part and also a difficult part in foreign language learning. Language teachers and learners have adopted various strategies to facilitate vocabulary learning, such as fostering learners' morphological awareness. Research in first language learning has proved the close relationship between morphological awareness and vocabulary learning, but the relationship between foreign language learners' morphological awareness and their vocabulary learning remains largely unknown. Therefore, the present study aims at exploring the relationship between Chinese high school EFL learners' morphological awareness and their English vocabulary learning.75 Chinese high school students at Grade 3 participated in present study. Tests were designed to measure their morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge. The morphological awareness test measured both their receptive and productive morphological awareness. The participants' vocabulary size was measured as indicator of their vocabulary breadth, and their knowledge of word form, meaning and use was measured as indicator of their vocabulary depth. Then, students were divided into three groups according to their level of receptive morphological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge of the three groups of students was compared. Students were also divided into three groups according to their level of productive morphological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge of these three groups was compared.Results indicate that these students have mastered certain degree of English derivational knowledge, and their receptive morphological awareness is better than their productive morphological awareness. In terms of vocabulary breadth, only their productive morphological awareness is related to their vocabulary size. When it comes to vocabulary depth, both their receptive morphological awareness and productive morphological awareness are related to their knowledge of word meaning, but neither aspect of morphological awareness is related to their knowledge of word form and use. Findings of present study are helpful in understanding the level of Chinese high school students' morphological awareness, and have pedagogical implications for English vocabulary teaching in Chinese high school classrooms.