An Empirical Study Of Vocabulary Acquisition Through English Reading

There has been a continuous increase in the quality of English teaching in China, as well as a gradual increase in English proficiency across China. However, the English ability of students in China falls below what is required for daily community and reading references. The primary reason for these issues is the due to the limited vocabulary capacity that these students have. The English vocabulary that these students studied have relies entirely on the language lessons that they receive in the classroom; this method of second language teaching satisfies the basic grammatical needs of the students but fails to assist them in developing a large vocabulary base. Practicing foreign language through reading allows second language learners to practice vocabulary in different contexts; this offers a significant advantage over practicing language through repetitive writing and word exercises. Reading helps students acquire vocabulary by figuring out the meaning of new words based on the context of the text they’re reading. The traditional methods of language learning such as writing and word exercises have problems such as placing emphasize on grammar instead of the meaning and context in which the word is used. These traditional methods of learning can often result in the learner’s inability to internalize the knowledge and in some instances can even cause learners to lose interest in language learning. When learners are assisted in selecting interesting reading material they’re encouraged to learn in a relaxing and enjoyable environment.The present studies focused on investigating the relationship between reading and vocabulary acquisition as well as the various factors that influence Chinese students. This study was also designed to examine the effectiveness of scaffolding and the role in plays in assisting a second language learner’s comprehension level and interest in the provided reading material. The purpose of this thesis is to show support for long-term pleasure reading for foreign students and foreign language learners and provide suggestions for increasing the effectiveness of vocabulary acquisition through reading.On the one hand, the present study employs Krashen’s Input Hypothesis as the theoretical basis, devoted to investigating the relationship between reading and vocabulary acquisition as well as the factors influencing the vocabulary acquisition. On the other hand, the study employs the Sociocultural Theory as the theoretical basis for investigating the effectiveness of the scaffolding comprehension activities on student’s comprehension level and interest level of the reading material.The study contains a teaching experiment and a case study. The subjects of the study are 12 third grade middle school students from the Number 6 Middle School in Yanji City, Jilin Province. During the 2 weeks,10 lessons, teaching procedure, the author was the teacher assisting students on selection reading material, introducing the teaching procedure, organizing activities, as well as conducting pre-test, post-test, questionnaire, and interviews. The study includes both quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis.This thesis is made up of six chapters. These six chapters will be explained in the following text below:Chapter one introduces the study in various parts. Chapter one goes in depth to detail the background, purpose, and structure of the study. This chapter goes into detail discussing the way students learn and acquire vocabulary through various methods. Additionally, the relationship between reading and vocabulary acquisition is discussed along with the factors influencing vocabulary acquisition. The chapter ends by laying out the structure of the thesis.Chapter two covers the literature review and goes over the various studies involving vocabulary and reading comprehension. The majority of the studies discussed in chapter two are regarding the unknown word density as well as vocabulary and reading comprehension. The studies discussed in chapter two also discuss the level of vocabulary required for adequate reading comprehension in second language learners. Additionally, chapter two goes over the effect that reading comprehension has on reading speed, the levels of vocabulary coverage required for adequate understanding, as well the rates of vocabulary acquisition and retention.Chapter three discusses Krashen’s second language acquisition theory in depth. In this chapter, the five hypotheses’that make up Krashen’s second language acquisition theory are discussed. The first hypothesis mentioned is the acquisition learning hypothesis which discusses how second languages are developed and acquired. The second hypothesis mentioned is the natural order hypothesis which discusses how second language learners acquire certain grammatical morphemes based on their first language. The third hypothesis mentioned is the monitor hypothesis which discusses the role that formal language learning rules play in second language acquisition. The input hypothesis mentioned in this chapter goes over what is required for effective second language acquisition. The final hypothesis related to the second language acquisition theory mentioned is the affective-filter hypothesis; this hypothesis discusses how certain factors affect the second language acquisition process.The second part of chapter three discusses sociocultural theory. Much like the first part of chapter three, this section covers four sections; these include mediation, zone of proximal development (ZPD), community of practice, and scaffolding. This section discusses various methods that effect learning and second language acquisition. In particular, the role that the learner’s environment plays in the development of knowledge is discussed in this chapter.Chapter four discusses the research and methodology of this thesis. This section goes over the research questions and hypothesis. This chapter covers the design, subjects, material, and teaching procedures used. This chapter also covers the testing, questionnaires, interviews conducted in the studies, the control variable in the research along with the assessment and grading of the tests that were conducted. This last section of this chapter discusses how the tests were graded in the study.Chapter five goes over the analysis and discussions related to the data collected from the questionnaire, pretest, posttest and interviews in the study.The results of the study show that it is possible for students to acquire vocabulary through reading. The factors influencing the vocabulary acquisition include the frequency of the new word’s occurrence in the text, the word class which the new word belongs into and the comprehension level of the reading material. Additionally, both of the two activities employed in the study, group discussion and audio assistance, facilitated the vocabulary acquisition by means of increasing the comprehension level of the material as well as lowering the affective-filter.Chapter six summarizes the studies that were conducted. Chapter six discusses the implications of the study; these implications cover theoretical, methodology, and pedagogy implications. Chapter six ends by discussing the limitations of the studies conducted.