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This study is a cross-sectional investigation into the relationship among Japanese EFL learners’ vocabulary size, two aspects of depth of vocabulary knowledge, polysemy and collocational knowledge, and automaticity of word recognition specified as orthographic decoding speed and lexical meaning access speed, and the roles these aspects of lexical knowledge play in general academic reading comprehension as well as in each of five Reading Comprehension item types—Main Idea, Stated Details, Paraphrased Details, Guessing Vocabulary from Context, and Making Inferences. The participants (N = 166) were first- and second-year, non-English majors at a four-year, co-educational university in western Japan. The participants were gathered from seven intact classes, where they focused on developing reading skills for TOEIC. Data were obtained from six major instruments: the Reading Comprehension Test, the Vocabulary Size Measure, the Revised Word Associates Polysemy Test, the Revised Word Associates Collocation Test, the Lexical Decision Task, and the Antonym Semantic Decision Task. The first four tests were administered with pencil and paper over two months, and the latter two tests were administered during the summer vacation with individual participants using computer software that produced reaction time data. Before conducting the quantitative analyses, the paper and pencil based tests were analyzed using the Rasch dichotomous model to examine the validity and reliability of the instruments and to transform the raw scores into equal interval Rasch measures. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to investigate how these aspects of lexical knowledge were related, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine to what extent these aspects of lexical knowledge contributed to the prediction of general reading comprehension as well as each of the five reading comprehension item types. In addition, using the percentage of correct answers, 12 anchor words across three lexical knowledge tests, the Vocabulary Size Measure, the Revised Word Associates Polysemy Test, and the Revised Word Associates Collocation, were analyzed to examine the possible presence of a hierarchical acquisitional pattern for the three aspects of lexical knowledge. The results showed strong correlations among the Vocabulary Size Measure, the Revised Word Associates Polysemy Test, and the Revised Word Associates Collocation Test, which suggested that vocabulary size and depth of vocabulary knowledge are closely related. This indicated that the more learners expand their written receptive vocabulary, the more likely they are to learn about various aspects of those words, such as their common collocation. On the contrary, none of the three lexical knowledge tests correlated significantly with the Lexical Decision Task and the Antonym Semantic Decision Task, which suggested that increases in vocabulary size and depth of lexical knowledge were not accompanied by the development of faster recognition of orthographic form or faster access to word meaning. Hence, this result implied that developing greater speed of lexical access lags behind increases in overall vocabulary size. Furthermore, the micro-analysis of 12 anchor words indicated that item dependency and considerable individual variation for each anchor word was present for the three aspects of lexical knowledge. The results also indicated that both vocabulary size and depth of lexical knowledge play significant roles in academic reading comprehension. Moreover, the two aspects of depth of vocabulary, polysemy and collocational knowledge, made unique contributions to the prediction of academic reading comprehension, which suggested that as learners’ vocabulary size approaches 3,000 words families, depth of lexical knowledge becomes increasingly important for academic reading comprehension. In a similar vein, the strong correlations among Guessing Vocabulary from Context item type, vocabulary size, and the two aspects of depth of vocabulary knowledge suggested that successful lexical guessing requires both a reasonably large vocabulary size and depth of lexical knowledge. That is, learners need to know the primary meaning of words, secondary meanings, and how the words relate to other words if they are to successfully guess the meaning of unknown words. The results also indicated that word recognition, specified as orthographic processing speed and lexical meaning access, did not uniquely contribute to the prediction of academic reading comprehension nor to the prediction of most of the five Reading Comprehension item types for the relatively low English proficiency participants in this study. Only orthographic processing speed predicted 5% of the variance in the Reading Comprehension Paraphrased Details item type; however, a plausible explanation for this finding is that it was caused by the difficulty of this item type. This finding is reasonable, as verbal efficiency theory (Perfetti, 1985) states that as lower-level processes are automatized, cognitive capacity is freed up. A possible explanation for the other insignificant results between the two reaction times tests and the other four Reading Comprehension item types is that the participants were under no pressure to complete the reading comprehension measure quickly, as it was an unspeeded test. Another plausible reason is that the participants’ L2 lexical proficiency was relatively low; therefore, they have not yet developed word recognition fluency. Finally, the results showed that the Reading Comprehension Main Idea item type and Paraphrased Details item type are more closely related to depth of vocabulary knowledge than to vocabulary size. / Teaching & Learning

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This essay examines Swedish nursery children’s oral vocabulary knowledge in English. The aim is to investigate what they know and find the source to their knowledge. This essay will focus on the receptive and productive knowledge the children know based on the categories tested, how much children learn in their Zone of Proximal Development, how much they learn from context and how much does media and electronic devices influence their learning. The data of this essay were collected from interviews of 25 children and from questionnaires answered by their parents. The results of the study indicate that the children have more receptive knowledge of the English words tested. It also suggests that the productive knowledge they have is connected with the words that sound similar in Swedish and that children learn English from their surroundings such as siblings and parents, and from games on iPads and video clips from YouTube.

It is well documented that reading plays a crucial role in success at school and beyond. Studies indicate that reading not only contributes to academic performance, but also enriches vocabulary. Positive reading attitudes and the will to read are factors that determine whether or not students read at school. However, not much reading research has been conducted in Swaziland. Using Form 5 learners from four public schools, this study explores the relationships between reading ability, vocabulary, reading attitudes, habits and access and academic performance among Form 5 Swazi learners. To complement the quantitative study, classroom observations were conducted to contextualise the quantitative results. The combined findings indicate that reading correlates robustly with vocabulary development and also with academic performance. The findings suggest that the ability to read and understand text plays a dynamic role in academic success. For students to be well informed and have a rich vocabulary, schools should make reading a priority. Key words: Reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(情報学) / 甲第25426号 / 情博第864号 / 新制||情||145(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院情報学研究科知能情報学専攻 / (主査)准教授 水原 啓暁, 教授 西田 眞也, 教授 熊田 孝恒 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Informatics / Kyoto University / DFAM

The main aims of the thesis are: to explore the development of Swedish university students’ vocabulary knowledge, size and depth and vocabulary use (i.e. lexical richness) in their written output, to examine the relationship between these, their relationship to examination grades, and to investigate how these relationships develop over time. The results showed that over one year of university studies stronger links between the two dimensions of vocabulary knowledge, size and depth are established. No relationship was found between informants’ vocabulary size and lexical richness. However, a modest relationship was found between depth and the lexical richness of student essays. Furthermore, there was a modest relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic performance. A weaker significant, relationship was found between lexical richness of student essays and academic performance as reflected in the course grade. However, the study did not show evidence of a relationship between lexical richness and essay grade, which seems to indicate that lexical richness, is not an essential criterion in teachers’ assessment of essays. In regard to the development of the informant’s vocabulary knowledge, there was a significant growth in their productive size and depth of vocabulary knowledge after both one and two terms. The informants’ receptive size was found to only develop over two terms of study. Moreover, they produced lexically richer essays in their second term than in their first term of study. The results of the study are discussed in light of the effect of similar learning experience at university and the onset vocabulary ability of the informants. Moreover, the findings are discussed from the perspective of pedagogical implications and vocabulary assessment.

The aim of this study is to investigate what differences there are in vocabulary comprehension between pupils with Swedish as a first and second language. The strategies used for understanding unknown words are also investigated. Above all, the aim of this study is to see whether the subject teacher is aware of which words could be difficult to understand for pupils with Swedish as a second language and if she is aware of their vocabulary ability.          Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the form of observation, vocabulary test and semi-structured interviews with both pupils and subject teacher. There were 12 informants from a national gymnasium programme participating in the vocabulary test. Seven of them had Swedish as a second language and six of them has Swedish as a first language. Six informants participated in interviews.          The results showed that there were both quantitative and qualitative differences between the groups. The results also imply that informants with higher scores in the vocabulary test are more aware of which methods to use in the hearing and reading of an unknown vocabulary. The subject teacher was well aware of which words in teaching could be hard to understand for second language pupils, but underestimated the pupils’ knowledge of words.          The test results were not statistically tested and could therefore not be generalized for the population. Contemporary field research supports the test results.

Text in English / This study examined the vocabulary and academic literacy levels of undergraduate students at the University of Namibia, as well as the effects of an explicit and an implicit vocabulary programme on vocabulary development and academic literacy. The study also sought to determine the effects of the programmes on students’ attitudes about vocabulary and explicit vocabulary strategies. The relationship between students’ vocabulary size, academic literacy levels, and their self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge was examined. Many students had not reached the desired word mastery and did not have adequate academic literacy skills to cope with the demands of university. Students in the explicit group modestly improved receptive vocabulary knowledge at the end of the intervention but there was no significant improvement in academic literacy skills. Overall, students showed an increase in positive responses regarding their attitudes to vocabulary. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Applied Linguistics)