Event Title
Morphological Awareness of Advanced Chinese ESL Learners and their Vocabulary Knowledge
Document Type
Event
Start Date
28-6-2017 10:00 AM
Description
Limited research investigating the contribution of morphological awareness (MA) to English language learners in mainland China has provided evidence supporting that MA is a strong predictor of their vocabulary knowledge regardless of their age (Zhang & Koda, 2012; Zhang & Koda, 2013). However, the vocabulary knowledge measures employed in previous research only assessed learners’ reading vocabulary yet measures tapping into listening vocabulary, the other half of vocabulary knowledge, has not been included.
The presentation describes the preliminary findings in a doctoral dissertation, which distinguishes itself from previous studies by employing the measure of listening vocabulary plus reading vocabulary. Morphological knowledge tools included both compound knowledge and suffix knowledge consisting of real words and pseudo words. The participants were seniors majored in English in a Chinese university. One striking finding is that listening vocabulary has a strong link with compound knowledge. Another finding about association between suffix knowledge and reading vocabulary is congruent with prior research. However, it has indicated that the suffix knowledge of real words is a predictor of reading vocabulary. In addition, the correlation between suffix knowledge of real words and compound knowledge has surfaced. Therefore, the author will argue for the various roles adult Chinese ESL learners’ compound structure knowledge and suffix knowledge play in vocabulary knowledge.
Recommended Citation
Bian, Xu, "Morphological Awareness of Advanced Chinese ESL Learners and their Vocabulary Knowledge" (2017). Center for Global Curriculum Studies Symposium. 16.
https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/globalcurriculumsymposium/gcs2017/gcs2017_events/16
Morphological Awareness of Advanced Chinese ESL Learners and their Vocabulary Knowledge
Limited research investigating the contribution of morphological awareness (MA) to English language learners in mainland China has provided evidence supporting that MA is a strong predictor of their vocabulary knowledge regardless of their age (Zhang & Koda, 2012; Zhang & Koda, 2013). However, the vocabulary knowledge measures employed in previous research only assessed learners’ reading vocabulary yet measures tapping into listening vocabulary, the other half of vocabulary knowledge, has not been included.
The presentation describes the preliminary findings in a doctoral dissertation, which distinguishes itself from previous studies by employing the measure of listening vocabulary plus reading vocabulary. Morphological knowledge tools included both compound knowledge and suffix knowledge consisting of real words and pseudo words. The participants were seniors majored in English in a Chinese university. One striking finding is that listening vocabulary has a strong link with compound knowledge. Another finding about association between suffix knowledge and reading vocabulary is congruent with prior research. However, it has indicated that the suffix knowledge of real words is a predictor of reading vocabulary. In addition, the correlation between suffix knowledge of real words and compound knowledge has surfaced. Therefore, the author will argue for the various roles adult Chinese ESL learners’ compound structure knowledge and suffix knowledge play in vocabulary knowledge.