MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS

The relationship between reading and vocabulary knowledge is one of mutual growth and influence, also referred to as a reciprocal relationship. Research highlights that as learners read more, their vocabulary expands and grows and that enables them to read more texts with ease, thereby facilitating comprehension. Similarly, the more they read the faster and more accurate their reading becomes, and this fluency helps to free up cognitive resources so that they can attend to meaning. To read texts with ease Kian et al. (2011) argue that learners’ vocabulary should cover all the five word levels revised by Nation (1990). They point out that the 2000- and 3000-word levels include only high frequency words in English while the 5000-word family level is a boundary between the high frequency and low frequency levels. The 10 000-word level includes low frequency words and the university word list level contains specialized vocabulary needed for academic studies. So for effective text comprehension, especially at high school, readers must have developed in all these word levels.

Reading offers learners greater exposure to lexical items needed to read with understanding. Research indicates that knowing more words makes one a better reader (Ho & Lien 2011). This is because the more one reads, the higher the possibilities of meeting unknown words, and the greater the chances of improving or increasing one’s receptive vocabulary. Bromley (2004) points out that children who lack a wide vocabulary fail to understand texts they read.

Research studies have shown a strong correlation between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge (Joshi & Aaron 2000; Gelderen, Schoonen, Glooper, Hulstijn, Simis, Snellings & Stevens 2004). Joshi and Aaron (2000) administered a vocabulary and comprehension subtest of the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test to 66 Grade 6 and 42 Grade 8 learners. The Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test is a standardized, group administered norm- and criterion-referenced test that uses a multiple choice format to measure vocabulary and reading

comprehension. The findings of this study showed a strong correlation of 0.63 in Grade 6 and 0.62 in Grade 8 between vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Another study by Gelderen et al. (2004) concurs with the findings of Joshi and Aaron (2000). Gelderen et al. (2004) administered tests of English vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension to 397 Dutch students from Grade 8 to Grade 10 in secondary education. Their study also found a strong correlation of 0.63 between vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Day & Bamford (1998) point out that reading helps in the growth of a large sight vocabulary and a wide general vocabulary. Sight vocabulary is described as the words that readers can automatically recognize in print without having to use strategies to decode the words in question. The automatic recognition of words can be achieved by reading a great deal so that the words encountered in print form one’s sight vocabulary. Reading a great deal also aids in the acquisition of general vocabulary knowledge. The development of general vocabulary knowledge is important during reading because it helps learners to comprehend what they read as they are not hindered by the unfamiliar words in the texts they read. Ho and Lien (2011, 78) opine that L2 learners should read many books so that they can build up a large vocabulary because the source of reading problems for foreign language and second language learners is difficulty in understanding the various unfamiliar words they meet when reading. Attention to the relationship between reading and vocabulary knowledge is drawn by Ho and Lien (2011) where they point out that students may comprehend better and read faster if their vocabulary knowledge can be improved. The relationship discussed above confirms the interdependency between having a large vocabulary and being a good reader.

Following the strong correlation found by researchers between reading and vocabulary knowledge, research suggests that if parents want their children to be successful at school, they must encourage them to read. This is because research seems to suggest that students who have a large vocabulary are usually good readers (Cunningham & Stanovich 2001). The importance of reading for vocabulary acquisition is conveyed in the belief that oral language is lexically impoverished compared to written language (ibid). For example, Cunningham and Stanovich (2001) point out that the average frequency of words in all samples of oral speech is

quite low, hovering in the 400-600 range of ranks. Many researchers (Hayes 1988; Hayes & Ahrens 1998; Stanovich 1986, cited in Cunningham & Stanovich 2001) are convinced that reading rather than oral language is the prime contributor to individual differences in children’s vocabularies and that much vocabulary growth during a child’s lifetime occurs indirectly through language exposure than through direct teaching. For effective vocabulary growth during reading, there is a need for readers to be exposed to words that they are not familiar with. Cunningham and Stanovich (2001) further point out that the acquisition of new words occur when an individual is exposed to words that are outside his current vocabulary and this happens more often while reading than while talking or watching TV.

The link between being a good reader and having a large vocabulary lies in that vocabulary is best acquired through reading widely because the more one reads, the more the number of words one meets and if these words are naturalized, then vocabulary occurs. As a result, comprehension barriers caused by insufficient vocabulary are removed. Reading extensively does not only empower learners to have adequate vocabulary but it also brings about academic success because as research points out, a student who is able to ‘read to learn’ and reads meaningfully is more likely to do well at school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader. The relationship discussed above is illustrated in Figure 2.2, and further explored in the section below on academic performance.

Figure 2.2: Interdependence of reading, vocabulary and academic success

Large vocabulary → Good reader → Academic success