Testing It Right: Assessing Vocabulary Breadth and Depth and Their Roles in Adult's Reading Comprehension
Date
2017-05-14
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Abstract
This study examined relationships among vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth, and
reading comprehension in adults. The focus of the study was to determine the construct of
vocabulary knowledge and how these components influenced reading comprehension among
Adult Basic Education (ABE) students. Participants were 71 adults who were currently enrolled
in ABE programs in Massachusetts. They were asked to complete a total of 12 tasks known to
measure vocabulary breadth, depth, and reading comprehension. First, we found that our
assessments are reliable in testing vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension.
Moreover, results showed vocabulary knowledge consists of at least two dimensions: vocabulary
breadth and vocabulary depth. Second, we also found that each component made a significant
independent contribution to explain reading comprehension. Finally, the research proposed
some suggestions for vocabulary instruction for ABE participants.
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Keywords
vocabulary, breadth and depth, adult, education, reading comprehension