First year students at university level encounter various challenges that might impact on their success or failure. At this level, learning is fairly dependent on extensive and intensive reading, thus the reader should have an adequate vocabulary size to assist with the reading comprehension process. Knowledge of vocabulary (or words) is deemed an essential factor in reading proficiency, mainly because meaning is derived from words and also because of the connection between words and comprehension of text. This study investigated the particular relationship among vocabulary size and vocabulary depth and reading comprehension of 105 first year B.Ed. students majoring in English at a university in the North West Province. Also, the vocabulary test results of two different groups, first and fourth years, were compared to determine if advancement of vocabulary levels occur over the study period of four years. A quantitative research approach was used in which the study population was required to complete standardised vocabulary size and vocabulary depth tests, reading comprehension tests and a survey questionnaire. The results were statistically computed to determine the relationship between vocabulary size and breadth and reading comprehension. The results showed a positive and significant effect size correlation between vocabulary size and depth, and reading comprehension. The participants in the study were mainly Afrikaans speaking students who received their school education in Afrikaans. The instruments used in the research were the Vocabulary Levels test (Nation, 1990), Read’s Word Associates Test (1992) and TOEFL reading comprehension tests. The questionnaire was added to determine previous exposure to English and current reading habits of the participants. A two-tailed Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were run in order to determine which of the variables, vocabulary size or depth, makes a more significant contribution to reading comprehension and also to establish which variable was the most significant predictor of academic success in the June examination. Vocabulary size was identified as predictor for success in the June examination; furthermore, if gender is used as independent variable, different vocabulary size tests are identified for males and females. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

First year students at university level encounter various challenges that might impact on their success or failure. At this level, learning is fairly dependent on extensive and intensive reading, thus the reader should have an adequate vocabulary size to assist with the reading comprehension process. Knowledge of vocabulary (or words) is deemed an essential factor in reading proficiency, mainly because meaning is derived from words and also because of the connection between words and comprehension of text. This study investigated the particular relationship among vocabulary size and vocabulary depth and reading comprehension of 105 first year B.Ed. students majoring in English at a university in the North West Province. Also, the vocabulary test results of two different groups, first and fourth years, were compared to determine if advancement of vocabulary levels occur over the study period of four years. A quantitative research approach was used in which the study population was required to complete standardised vocabulary size and vocabulary depth tests, reading comprehension tests and a survey questionnaire. The results were statistically computed to determine the relationship between vocabulary size and breadth and reading comprehension. The results showed a positive and significant effect size correlation between vocabulary size and depth, and reading comprehension. The participants in the study were mainly Afrikaans speaking students who received their school education in Afrikaans. The instruments used in the research were the Vocabulary Levels test (Nation, 1990), Read’s Word Associates Test (1992) and TOEFL reading comprehension tests. The questionnaire was added to determine previous exposure to English and current reading habits of the participants. A two-tailed Pearson product moment correlation and multiple regression analyses were run in order to determine which of the variables, vocabulary size or depth, makes a more significant contribution to reading comprehension and also to establish which variable was the most significant predictor of academic success in the June examination. Vocabulary size was identified as predictor for success in the June examination; furthermore, if gender is used as independent variable, different vocabulary size tests are identified for males and females. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

L2 (second or foreign language) research indicates that vocabulary knowledge is not only the “single best predictor of text comprehension,” but also a strong indicator of listening, speaking, and writing proficiency (Alderson, 2000, p. 35). Understanding the development of vocabulary knowledge, including both vocabulary size and vocabulary depth, or quality of vocabulary knowledge—is therefore essential to the building of an overall insight into L2 proficiency. This study aims to explore the developmental status of vocabulary depth among postsecondary CFL (Chinese as a foreign language) learners of higher proficiency levels who have studied Chinese for over four years. In particular, it focuses on these learners' identification of two types of word association—synonym and collocational associations and how factors such as association type and target-word frequency impact association identification. The process and strategy use that are involved in the inference of word association are also explored. For these purposes, this study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. Cross-sectional data were collected through a paper-and-pencil test of Chinese word associates from seventeen learners within five postsecondary CFL programs in the U.S. Each participant worked on two test booklets assessing synonym and collocational associates respectively for the same 44 adjectives selected from the three word frequency levels of below 1000, between 1000 and 5000, and above 5000. A two-factor within-subjects ANOVA revealed both significant main effects for association type and word frequency on association identification and a significant interaction between the two. Simple effect analysis and pair-wise comparisons further revealed that association identification became increasingly stronger with the increase of word frequency for collocational association, yet remained non-impacted by frequency before reaching the mid- to high-frequency transition for synonym association. Meanwhile, CFL learners' collocational knowledge was significantly higher than synonym knowledge at mainly the medium- and high-frequency levels. These reslts indicate that synonym knowledge seemed to lag behind in development as familiarity with words increased, but began to catch up at higher-frequency levels. Interview data collected from six CFL learners show that they employed a wide variety of knowledge sources, such as radical knowledge, morphological knowledge, contextual clues, sound information, or L1 in inferring word association. Inference success seemed to be influenced not only by their preexisting word knowledge, but also an integrated and flexible use of linguistic and contextual information in the inference process. Implications of these findings are discussed in relevance to curriculum and pedagogical development of CFL teaching and the understanding and definition of CFL proficiency in general. This study fills a gap in CFL vocabulary research by building a tentative measure of vocabulary depth and bringing greater insights into the developmental status of higher-level CFL learners in synonym and collocational association as well as the process that is involved in inference of word association.

This study aimed to analyse Swedish EFL students' efficiency on connotations. Connotation isa word's implied meaning which brings neutral, positive, or negative associations in aconversation. In this study, connotations were examined in terms of their appropriateness ifused in different contexts. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether Swedishstudents of an intermediate level showed sufficient skills in comprehending a word'sappropriateness when compared to a native speaker. Furthermore, this study also aimed toanalyse in what ways students engaged in English during their spare time show a correlation tohigher test scores. The results indicate that the Swedish students' combined score on theconnotation test showed less than half of the full score. The results also highlight that thestudents who are engaged in English more frequently compared to those who are not showedhigher test scores.

This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored. Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs. In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored. Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs. In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

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Abstract in English, Sepedi and Sesotho / In this thesis, the researcher used an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to investigate the role of English academic vocabulary on reading comprehension of grade 11 English First Additional Language (EFAL) learners in the Free State province, Fezile Dabi district in South Africa. The current study is an attempt to determine whether the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge have a bearing on grade 11 EFAL learners' reading comprehension, and to examine which one of these variables, that is, breadth or depth of vocabulary knowledge, makes a more important contribution to reading comprehension. It also attempts to investigate the Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) used by grade 11 EFAL learners. For the non-experimental quantitative study, the participants of the study were thirty EFAL learners who were chosen based on available sampling. To collect the relevant data, two tests measuring breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge (Section A and Section B) and a reading comprehension were administered to all participants. To achieve its aim 1, two independent variables namely, the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT) which measures vocabulary breadth and Word Associate Test (WAT) which measures vocabulary depth were used. Then, the dependent variable was the reading comprehension test in which the participants were asked to read the passages and answer some multiple choice questions. Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple regression were chosen as the dominant techniques for the statistical analyses. The results obtained from the analysis of the data indicated that while both depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge play an important role in EFAL learners' reading comprehension performance, depth of vocabulary knowledge makes a more important contribution. The results further revealed that depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge are positively correlated, that is, those learners who had large vocabulary size had a deeper knowledge of the words, too. Then, the findings from the qualitative study based on the data collected through eight focus group discussion participants about the VLS used by grade 11 EFAL learners, highlight that it is important to explore and broaden learners’ vocabulary learning strategic knowledge. Also, results reflect that learners can take control of their own vocabulary learning as long the teachers train and then offer them opportunities to learn and practice the strategies.The qualitative data for this study was analysed using the content analysis method. / Nyakisiso ye e tserwe ka mekgwa ye mentshi ye e hlakantshitsweng lebaka e le go nyakishisha ka karolo yeo polelo ya Sepediya poleloya tlatselletso e ralokang karolo dithutong tsa polelo ya go bala taodiso mphatong wa lesometee (11) polelong go bana kua porofenseng ya Foreistata e bitswang Fezile Dabi, districting (lefapheng) gona mo Aforika Borwa. Gonabjalo dithuto di ipontsha go ikemisetsa go tseba ka bophara le bogolo ba tsebo ka polelo ya sepedi ka seo e leng sona Mphatong wa le sometee (11), polelong ya tlatselletso ya bana ba mphato wa lesometee ka go bala ga taodisho. Go nyakega di nyakisiso ka mekgwa yeo oka e berekisang ke bana ba Mphato wa lesometee polelong ya tlatselletso. Go thuto yeo e tiilego batseakarolo ba masome a mararo (30) ba polelo ya tletselletso e leng bana ba sekolo bao ba kgethilweng ka mokgwa wa dinyakisiso tse di ntshitswego. Go humana palo ya mannete, dihlahlobo tse pedi (2) tseo ditlago go lekanetsa bogolo le bophara ba tsebo ya go bolela le go bala taodisho e filwe batseakarolo kamoka. Go humana maikemisetso a pele (1). Tseo di ikemetsego di bolelwe, le hlahlobo ya polelo ya mantswe eo e lekanyetsago polelo ka bophara e berekishitswe. Seo se ikemetsego e be ele go bala teko ya taodiso ye batseakarolo ba kgopetsweng go bala ditemana le go araba dipotsiso tse mmalwa tseo dikgethilweng. Dipoelo tseo di humanwego gotswa go dipalo tsa tseo ditserweng ka bophara le go bolela ga polelo kapa yona tsebo ya polelo yeo e ralokileng karolo e bohlokwa go polelo ya tlatselletso go baithuti ka go bala taodiso yeo e tsereng karolo ka bophara kapa bogolo ba tsebo ya polelo e dira gore go be bohlokwa gotseyeng karolo. Dipoelo go tswela pele di bontsha bogolo le bophora ka tsebo polelo di ya kopana di ya tsamaisana nang ka tsela ya maleba, Baithuti ba palo ya godimo bao ba nang le tsebo ya polelo yeo e tibileng ka mantswe le bona baya amega. Gotswa go dinyakisiso tseo di fitisisago go humanwe gore dipalopalo go tswa go dihlopa tse sesawi tseo kapa bao batsereng karolo ka mekgwa ya nyakisiso kapa tsebo ya polelo yeo e berekisitswego go bana ba Mphato wa bo lesometee (11) polelong ya tlatselletso e hlagisa gore go bohlokwa gore bogolo ba baithuti bainyakisisetse ka tsebo ya mekgwa ya polelo. Dipoelo di bontsha thuto ya polelo go barutegi bao barutiwago ba filwe monyetla wa go ithuta le go tsea karolo go mekgwa ya go ithuta e fapaneng. / Mokgwa ona o tswakilweng wa ho hlahloba karolo ya puo ya Senyesemane ka ho bala kutlwisiso ya diithuti tsa Sekolo sa Pele sa Puo ea Senyesemane sa Pele (EFAL) seprofinseng sa Free State seterekeng sa Fezile Dabi, Arika Borwa. Phuputso ya morao tjena ke boiteko ba ho bona hore na bophara le botebo ba tsebo wa mantswe di na le sebopeho sa ho bala sekolo sa EFAL, mme ho hlahloba e nngwe ya mefuta ena, ke hore, bophara kapa botebo ba tsebo ya mantswe, e etsa monehelo wa bohlokwa haholwanyane ho bala kutlwisiso. E boetse e leka ho batlisisa mekgwa ya ho ithuta ya mantswe (VLT) e sebediswang ke barutwana ba 11 EFAL. Bakeng sa dipatlisiso tse ngata, barupeluwa ba thuto ba ne ba e-na le diithuti tse mashome a mararo tsa EFAL tse kgethilweng di thehilwe ho sampole e fumanehang. Ho bokella boitsebiso bo nepahetseng, diteko tse pedi tse lekanyang le bophara ba tsebo ya mantswe (Karolo ya A le Section B) mme kutlwisiso ya ho bala e ne e tsamaiswa ho bohle ba barupeluwa. Ho finyella sepheo sa yona 1, mefuta e mmedi e ikemetseng, e leng. Tlhahlobo ya disebediswatsa vocabulary (VLT) e lekanyang tekanyao ya mantswe le Testing (WAT) e lekanyang e tibeleng ya mantswe e sebedisitsweng. Jwale, moelelo o itshetlehile ka ho bala teko ya kutlwisiso eo barupeluwa ba ileng ba koptjoa hore ba bale dipatlisiso le ho araba dipotso tse ngata. Diphello tse fumanweng ha ho hlahlojwa boitsebiso bo bontshiitse hore ho tseba hore boitsebiso bo bongata bo tebileng le bobopeho ba tsebo ya mantswe bo phetha karolo ya bohlokwa haholo. Diphello di ile tsa tswela pele ho senola hore tsebo le tsebo ya tsebo di tsamaisana hantle, ke hore, baithuti ba neng ba e-na le boholo ba di-vocabulary bana le tsebo e tebileng ya mantswe, hape. Jwale dithuto tse tswang thupelong ya boleng bo thehilweng boitsebisong ba dihlopha tse robedi tsa dipuisano tsa dihlopha tsa dipuisano ka sehlopha sa VLS se sebedisitsweng ka dihlopha tsa bo 11 ba EFAL di bontsha hore ke habohlokwa ho hlahloba le ho atolosa tsebo ya diithuti tsa ho ithuta tsebo. Hape, diphello di bontsha hore barupeluwa ba ka nka boikarabelo ba ho ithuta mantswe ha nako e telele matichere a ntse a kwetliswa mme jwale a ba fa menyetla ya ho ithuta le ho sebeisa manqheka. / Language Education, Arts and Culture / D. Phil. (Education)