Open AccessDemystifying Lexical Inferencing: The Role of Aspects of Vocabulary Knowledge
Author(s) -
David D. Qian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
tesl canada journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-8917
pISSN - 0826-435X
DOI - 10.18806/tesl.v22i2.86
Subject(s) - vocabulary , meaning (existential) , linguistics , comprehension , psychology , vocabulary development , reading comprehension , focus (optics) , reading (process) , physics , optics , psychotherapist , philosophy
This empirical study examines how English-as-a-second-language (ESL) learners use their vocabulary knowledge for inferring meanings of unknown words in reading comprehension. The data, collected through interviews with young adult ESL students in Canadian universities, indicate that: (a) semantic and morphological aspects of vocabulary knowledge play an important role in learners' comprehension processes; (b) a positive relationship exists between certain aspects of learners' vocabulary knowledge and their lexical inferencing ability; and (c) in processing the meaning of unknown words, all learners looked for cues to meaning, but learners with varying depths of vocabulary knowledge tended to focus on varying strategies.