Vocabulary Coverage and Reading Comprehension of University EFL Learners
- DOI
- 10.2991/assehr.k.210427.010How to use a DOI?
- Keywords
- EFL learners, Reading comprehension, Vocabulary coverage
- Abstract
The knowledge of vocabulary is positively associated with second language learners’ reading ability. Knowing at least 95% of vocabulary contained in the reading passages is necessary for adequate reading comprehension. This study measures Second Language (L2) learners’ vocabulary coverage of six reading samples used as intensive reading materials for university EFL learners in Indonesia. Fifty second-year students enrolled in a Reading class were asked to mark difficult words or unknown words that they did not know the meaning and were unsure about. The type-token analysis of familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary undertaken through the V_Words program showed that the learners knew around 98% of the total words (tokens) used in the texts, with averagely six to twelve words (dominated with nouns), were reportedly unknown in the 470 to 516-word length of texts. The 98% vocabulary coverage was estimated to assist the learners in sufficiently comprehending the reading materials without the need to check the meaning of unfamiliar words in dictionaries. Furthermore, having around 98% coverage of the vocabulary used in the texts provided more opportunity for the readers to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words and more flexibility for incidental vocabulary learning to take place during reading.
- Copyright
- © 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Boniesta Melani AU - Sudirman Willian AU - Kurniawan Apgrianto AU - Husnul Lail PY - 2021 DA - 2021/04/28 TI - Vocabulary Coverage and Reading Comprehension of University EFL Learners BT - Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Applied Linguistics (CONAPLIN 2020) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 65 EP - 71 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210427.010 DO - 10.2991/assehr.k.210427.010 ID - Melani2021 ER -