TY - JOUR
T1 - Language Aptitude in the Development of Vocabulary Breadth and Depth of EFL Learners with Different Proficiency Levels*
AU - Tang, Lingjie
AU - Lim, Jayeon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 KASELL. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The purpose of this study is to examine the role of language learning aptitude in the development of vocabulary breadth and depth of adult EFL learners with different proficiency levels. To this end, sixty Chinese EFL college students were divided into two proficiency groups of high and low and participated in three online tests of measuring vocabulary breadth, depth and aptitude. The results showed that high proficiency (HP) learners outperformed low proficiency (LP) learners in three subdivided aptitudes of rote memory, grammatical sensitivity and phonetic coding ability. HP also outperformed LP in vocabulary breadth at all frequency levels, indicating a positive relationship between language aptitude and vocabulary breadth. With vocabulary depth, HP produced more valid paradigmatic associations than LP. However, no difference was found based on the two proficiency group’s responses to syntagmatic and phonological associations of the vocabulary depth test. The results implicate that L2 learners’ vocabulary depth developed with a more paradigmatic tendency as their proficiency increased. No difference was found in syntagmatic associations between the two proficiency groups, indicating a possibility of it continuously posing a challenge for L2 learners. As with phonological associations, it seems that L2 learners rarely rely on phonological information when learning vocabulary. Among different aptitudes, rote memory strongly contributed to vocabulary breadth at all frequency levels and to paradigmatic and syntagmatic associations in LP learners. The contribution of aptitudes in HP was unclear. The findings show that rote memorization of vocabulary may be helpful for low proficiency learners, whereas additional factors may be at play in advanced level learners. Thus, further studies are needed in investigating additional factors that may contribute to vocabulary development as learners’ proficiency increases.
AB - The purpose of this study is to examine the role of language learning aptitude in the development of vocabulary breadth and depth of adult EFL learners with different proficiency levels. To this end, sixty Chinese EFL college students were divided into two proficiency groups of high and low and participated in three online tests of measuring vocabulary breadth, depth and aptitude. The results showed that high proficiency (HP) learners outperformed low proficiency (LP) learners in three subdivided aptitudes of rote memory, grammatical sensitivity and phonetic coding ability. HP also outperformed LP in vocabulary breadth at all frequency levels, indicating a positive relationship between language aptitude and vocabulary breadth. With vocabulary depth, HP produced more valid paradigmatic associations than LP. However, no difference was found based on the two proficiency group’s responses to syntagmatic and phonological associations of the vocabulary depth test. The results implicate that L2 learners’ vocabulary depth developed with a more paradigmatic tendency as their proficiency increased. No difference was found in syntagmatic associations between the two proficiency groups, indicating a possibility of it continuously posing a challenge for L2 learners. As with phonological associations, it seems that L2 learners rarely rely on phonological information when learning vocabulary. Among different aptitudes, rote memory strongly contributed to vocabulary breadth at all frequency levels and to paradigmatic and syntagmatic associations in LP learners. The contribution of aptitudes in HP was unclear. The findings show that rote memorization of vocabulary may be helpful for low proficiency learners, whereas additional factors may be at play in advanced level learners. Thus, further studies are needed in investigating additional factors that may contribute to vocabulary development as learners’ proficiency increases.
KW - Chinese EFL learners
KW - English proficiency level
KW - L2 vocabulary breadth and depth
KW - language aptitude
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159482554&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15738/kjell.23..202304.285
DO - 10.15738/kjell.23..202304.285
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85159482554
SN - 1598-1398
VL - 23
SP - 285
EP - 302
JO - Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
JF - Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
ER -