Effects Of Multidimensional Vocabulary Knowledge On Non-English Majors’ Performance In Banked Cloze Test

Banked cloze,as an innovative format of cloze test,is widely used in various examinations,but it is found that students’ performance in banked cloze test is not satisfactory.Vocabulary knowledge is a key component of second language ability.While multiple dimensions of vocabulary knowledge are essential to perform a banked cloze task,few studies are found directly exploring the role of multidimensional vocabulary knowledge in banked cloze test performance.Based on the multidimensional vocabulary knowledge framework,which is formulated with reference to vocabulary knowledge frameworks of Jack Richards,Paul Nation,David Qian and Ma Guanghui,the present study aims to explore the effects of multidimensional vocabulary knowledge(orthography,morphology,lexical meaning and collocation)on students’ achievements in banked cloze test.Participants in the present study are non-English majors at a key university in east China.The research instruments include four kinds of tests(Banked Cloze Test,Controlled Productive Vocabulary Test,Word Association Test and Test of Morphological Structure),interviews and questionnaires.Both quantitative and qualitative methods are adopted to investigate the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and students’ achievements in banked cloze test.After analysis,the present study finds that: students show unsatisfactory performance in banked cloze test and lack complete mastery of multidimensional vocabulary knowledge;medium-low level of positive correlations are found between the four dimensions of vocabulary knowledge(orthography,morphology,lexical meaning and collocation)respectively and students’ performance in banked cloze test.In addition,all the four dimensions can predict students’ performance.The correlations and predictions from the strongest to the weakest are: orthography > morphology > lexical meaning > collocation.The difficulties students encounter when performing banked cloze test mainly lie in discriminating words with similar spellings,discerning words with irregular inflection,identifying the exact meaning of a word and discriminating meanings between words,and the application of preposition collocation.The present study also provides implications for performance improvement in banked cloze test as well as vocabulary teaching and learning.