The Effects Of Word Frequency And Contextual Richness On Chinese Efl Learners' Vocabulary Knowledge Acquisition In Reading

It is generally acknowledged that second language (L2) learners accumulate a large amount of L2 vocabulary by virtue of experiencing considerable exposure to the target language, through either the mode of listening or reading. Word frequency and contextual richness are claimed to be two key factors affecting L2 learners picking up new words from reading. However, research that systematically investigated word frequency and contextual richness is rare and the findings are far from sufficient. Therefore, the present study set out to explore word frequency and contextual richness effects on vocabulary knowledge acquisition in reading.Thirty-five second-year English majors participated in this study. A short story, with most vocabulary falling within the participants'vocabulary range, was adapted by replacing ten target words with pseudo words in boldfaced and italicized form so as to attract the participants'attention. After reading, ten vocabulary tests were administered upon the participants. Follow-up interviews were conducted one week later to elicit in-depth data.Major findings, yielded from both statistical and qualitative data, are summarized as follows:(a) Word frequency and contextual richness were determined to be closely related to aspects of vocabulary knowledge acquisition, such as spelling, grammar and syntax, with word frequency playing a more influential role than contextual richness.(b) Concerning knowledge of vocabulary meaning and paradigmatic associations, contextual richness contributed exclusively to gains in these aspects, while word frequency did not seem to exert much influence. This was probably because contextual clues in the present study were sometimes sufficient to result in successful guessing after just one exposure to the target words. As a consequence, word frequency was rendered insignificant.(c) It was also found that some aspects of vocabulary knowledge, such as spelling and grammar, were probably implicitly acquired, whereas word meaning gains required both explicit attention and conscious processing. In the latter case, the more one attended to the input, the greater the gains.(d) Finally, it was indicated by qualitative analysis that a high frequency of occurrences of some target words can in fact hinder the acquisition of their meanings, even though their meanings do not vary from context to context.In view of the above findings, theoretical, pedagogical and methodological implications are drawn, presented and discussed. Limitations and suggestions for further research are also elaborated upon.