Measuring the contribution of academic and general vocabulary knowledge to learners' academic achievement

Abstract

The Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) is widely used in preparing non-native speakers for academic courses, and it is thought that these words are essential for the understanding of English academic texts (Cobb & Horst, 2004). It is also thought the AWL is an infrequent and specialised list inaccessible from general language. These preconceptions are challenged in this study which demonstrates with reference to BNC/COCA word lists that the majority of the AWL fall within the most frequent 3,000 words in English, a grouping which Schmitt and Schmitt (2014) describe as highly frequent. Using a specially created test of the AWL and the XK-Lex test of overall vocabulary size (Authors, 2012), the study demonstrates that the learning of the AWL appears strongly influenced by the frequency of these words in general corpora and that the AWL test resembles very strongly a test of overall vocabulary size. When scores from these tests are related to a Grade Point Average (GPA) measure, it appears that knowledge of the AWL adds only marginally to the explanatory power of overall vocabulary size in explaining variance in GPA scores. This conclusion matches that of Townsend et al. (2012) although the tests in this study appear to have a greater explanatory power.

Mind the gap: Academic vocabulary knowledge as a predictor of English grades

“…Though there is an increasing need for academic literacy in English, few tests assess academic vocabulary specifically (Pecorari et al, 2019). Recent developments in academic vocabulary testing include work by Masrai and Milton (2018) and Pecorari et al (2019). Masrai and Milton (2018) designed and validated the Academic Vocabulary Size Test (AVST) based on the AWL.…”

Exploring Taiwanese Students’ Perceptions of Active Explicit Vocabulary Instruction: A Case Study in an English Medium Course

“…Vocabulary knowledge is considered important in second-language acquisition and foreign-language learning because the insufficient vocabulary of the learners has been reported as a critical problem in their achievements of L2 learning (Kojic-Sabo & Lightbown, 1999;Richards, 2002). Previous studies also pointed out that limited knowledge of academic vocabulary has been associated with academic failure (Anjomshoa & Zamanian, 2017;Hiebert & Lubliner, 2008;Masrai & Milton, 2018). Knudsen and Westbrook (2013) claimed that the acquisition of academic vocabulary seems to be a fundamental skill that will lead to success in reading, listening, and other skills in English-medium classes.…”

The Impact of Preschool Education on L1 Vocabulary Development and Sequential Bilingualism: The Case of Arab Schoolchildren

“…The overview of diglossia thus suggests that children who begin school at the age of six without receiving preschool education are most likely at risk in terms of vocabulary development compared with children who had early educational programmes prior to school. The consequential low vocabulary size is also expected to influence their academic attainment as the relationship between the two is reported in the literature (e.g., Daller & Yixin, 2016;Masrai & Milton, 2018). There is, however, a gap in our knowledge about the impact of preschool education on L1 vocabulary development and the influence this has on sequential bilingualism among native Arabic speaking children, which this study attempts to fill.…”