Vocabulary learning strategies and their effect on reading comprehension among EFL students

Abstract

This research aims at exploring how various strategies of learning vocabulary influence the reading comprehension ability of EFL students. It would show which strategies are most effective to increase the understanding and the mediation of this relationship by the strategic awareness of learners. Suppose, a mixed-method design, the sample of the study must have comprised of intermediate level EFL learner’s enrollee in a language program. Standardized tests in vocabulary and reading comprehension were used to collect quantitative data having been provided at the beginning and the end of an instructional intervention. The qualitative data were obtained with the help of the questionnaires and interviews (semi-structured interviews) with the focus on the attitudes of the learners and the strategies used by them. The relationships between frequency of strategy use and gains of comprehension were tested with statistical techniques (regression and correlation). Likely, the results have shown that learners who engage in metacognitive and context-based processes scored much higher in the reading comprehension assessment than students who relied more on rote learning. Higher levels of strategic awareness and proactive text involvement were related to higher levels of lexical retention and inferential comprehension.