Role of Vocabulary in Teaching

Reading
İSMAIL HAKKI ERTEN

­Framing the Issue

Comprehending what is read in a second language (L2) can be a complex process

as it may involve engagement of a multitude of factors. One such factor has fre-
quently been shown to be knowledge of L2 vocabulary (Grabe, 2009). The relation-
ship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension is often
described as a two-way interaction, both contributing to one another (Nation,
2001). While the amount of reading creates opportunities and optimal conditions
for vocabulary acquisition through frequent exposure to new words to learn, the
amount of L2 vocabulary knowledge learners have appears to correlate with the
amount of what they comprehend from what is read (Grabe, 2009; Schmitt, 2010).
Improvement in the size of vocabulary knowledge appears to result in better read-
ing comprehension (Schmitt, Jiang, & Grabe, 2011), vocabulary knowledge mak-
ing it possible to get a more efficient access to the content of the text (Hu & Nation,
2000). Such an intricate interplay between reading and vocabulary suggests that
time spent on vocabulary development is probably time well spent (Nation, 2001).

­Making the Case

The relationship between vocabulary and reading often attracts scholars’ interest
generating questions pertaining to how the two constructs are related to one
another. It is argued that the interaction between reading and vocabulary can be
bidirectional (Nation, 2001). Readers can expand their L2 vocabulary through
reading. At the same time they might need a large vocabulary for more efficient
access to the reading material (Hu & Nation, 2000). This entry, then, will endeavor
to highlight the role of vocabulary in teaching reading. It will first explore relevant
concepts related to vocabulary knowledge. It will then discuss research evidence
on how much vocabulary an L2 reader needs to possess for effective reading in a

The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, First Edition.

Edited by John I. Liontas (Project Editor: Margo DelliCarpini).
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
DOI: 10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0500

eelt0500.indd 1 10/31/2017 8:40:39 PM

 2 Role of Vocabulary in Teaching Reading

foreign language. The entry will then make suggestions for classroom work to
compensate for L2 readers’ lack or shortage of required lexical knowledge for
effective reading.

Vocabulary Knowledge
Knowledge of vocabulary can be defined in a number of different ways highlight-
ing different features of that knowledge (e.g., our ability to productively use par-
ticular words, how many words we know, or how well we know a particular
word). Some of the relevant terms pertaining to vocabulary knowledge—breadth
of vocabulary knowledge, depth of vocabulary knowledge, levels of vocabulary
knowledge, receptive vocabulary, and productive vocabulary—are briefly sum-
marized below.
Breadth of vocabulary knowledge refers to how many words we know in a lan-
guage. Particular interest to L2 reading comprehension is the question of how
much vocabulary we need to know for effective reading. Studies on the relation-
ship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension often report
very high correlation coefficients between a learner’s size of vocabulary knowl-
edge and reading comprehension (e.g., Laufer, 1992), implying that the more
words we know in a text the more we can understand.
Knowing a word often involves more than knowing its meaning (Nation, 2001).
Depth of vocabulary knowledge refers to different types of knowledge one needs to
possess in order to know a word in its full sense. Such knowledge may include a
given word’s phonemic, graphemic, morphemic, syntactic, semantic, collocational,
and phraseological properties, as well as its frequency and register (Nation, 2001).
However, partial knowledge of words is inevitable both in L1 and L2.
Related to depth of vocabulary knowledge, multiple levels of vocabulary knowl-
edge have been proposed by Paribakht and Wesche (1997). Their model (Vocabulary
Knowledge Scale [VKS]) illustrates one’s knowledge of a given word on a contin-
uum, starting with not having seen a word and moving to being able to use the
word. VKS then measures both receptive and productive knowledge of a given
word. Dimensions of VKS are as follows:
I I don’t remember having seen this word before.
II I have seen the word before, but I’m not sure what it means.
III I have seen this word before, and I think it means _________.
(Synonym or translation)
IV I know this word. It means _______ . (Synonym or translation)
V I can use this word in a sentence: _______ . (Write a sentence)
(Paribakht & Wesche, 1997, p. 180)

Both native speakers and foreign/second language learners possess a large

number of words in their mental lexicon. However, although we may encounter
vocabulary that we comprehend in reading or listening, these words cannot be
used equally effectively and frequently when producing the language. To eluci-
date this distinction, the notions of receptive and productive vocabularies (also

eelt0500.indd 2 10/31/2017 8:40:39 PM

 Role of Vocabulary in Teaching Reading 3

referred to as passive and active respectively) have been suggested (e.g. Nation,
2001). Receptive vocabulary refers to our knowledge of words at the level of percep-
tion. Our receptive vocabulary covers words we cannot effectively use in speaking
or writing but comfortably recognize and comprehend in listening or reading
while productive vocabulary includes vocabulary items that we can understand as
well as those we can use effectively. It is therefore expected that one may have a
larger receptive vocabulary than productive vocabulary (Nation, 2001).

The Relationship Between Reading and Vocabulary Knowledge

Reading in an L2 and vocabulary are envisaged to be closely related to each other.
It is often argued that reading is the best source of vocabulary acquisition and that
a rich vocabulary can be one of the best tools for effective reading (Nation, 2001).
This entry is concerned more about the impact the knowledge of vocabulary might
have on L2 reading comprehension. Therefore, this section will briefly review this
interplay between the two constructs.
Research into the relationship between vocabulary and reading has primarily
sought an answer to the question of whether the knowledge of vocabulary can pre-
dict what is comprehended and how much vocabulary is needed for effective read-
ing. First, research on the role of vocabulary knowledge has indicated that the size
(breadth) of vocabulary can be a significant contributor to the quality of comprehen-
sion of reading texts (e.g., Schmitt et al., 2011). Similarly, strong correlations between
reading comprehension and both breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge have
been reported (Perfetti, 2007), demonstrating a fairly linear relationship between how
much vocabulary one possesses and how much sense one can make of written texts.
Research also has endeavored to establish how much vocabulary is necessary
for effective access to a written text (e.g., Hu & Nation, 2000; Laufer & Ravenhorst-
Kalovski, 2010; Schmitt et al., 2011). Hu and Nation (2000) found that for a 70%
comprehension of a written text their participants had to know 98% of all words.
A similar figure of coverage was also suggested by the findings reported by
Schmitt et al. (2011). Such figures in percentages correspond to a vocabulary size
ranging from a minimum of 5,000 word families (including proper nouns) to 8,000
word families (Laufer & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, 2010), which underlines the obser-
vation that the more words we know the more we comprehend and vice versa.

­Pedagogical Implications

Implications of such a reciprocal interaction between vocabulary knowledge and

reading comprehension are twofold. The first set of implications involves ways to
improve vocabulary through reading while the second set of messages pertains to
making use of or paying attention to lexical knowledge to improve reading. This
entry is primarily about the role of vocabulary in teaching reading rather than
vocabulary acquisition. Therefore, what follows is a brief account of some sugges-
tions with regards to dealing with lexical issues in teaching reading.

eelt0500.indd 3 10/31/2017 8:40:39 PM

 4 Role of Vocabulary in Teaching Reading

It is commonly acknowledged that one of the main problems of L2 readers is

inadequate vocabulary knowledge. Learning 5,000–8,000 words can be daunting
for many language learners. As a fairly well-developed vocabulary knowledge is
required for effective comprehension of a given authentic text, Nation (2001) rec-
ommends explicit instruction of especially high frequency words as quickly as
possible in any way that is conceivable. Therefore, teachers may decide to invest
as much time as possible to present basic vocabulary required for essential lexical
coverage for successful comprehension of written texts.
One way to overcome difficulties of inadequate knowledge of relevant vocabu-
lary in a text is to scaffold students through glosses. Glossing involves provision of
meanings of some target words in a given text. It is believed that through glosses,
readers can gain better access to the text (Nation, 2001) without reducing its
authenticity (Erçetin, 2003). When provided with glosses, readers can read faster
and are likely to comprehend more than when they read without glosses. There
may be several possible ways to give glosses. Glosses can be provided on various
spaces around the text. They can be provided on the margins of the text or at the
top or end of the text for further reference by the reader in case the need arises.
Glosses can also be provided in the form of L1 glosses (L1 translation), L2 glosses,
verbal only glosses, or a combination of verbal and visual glosses. In cases of
online reading, glosses can also be hyperlinked to selected or all vocabulary items
included in the text (e.g., Erçetin, 2003).
It is now evident that reading can contribute to vocabulary development.
Students with limited lexical resorts can be directed to graded readers. Both lexi-
cally and grammatically simplified, graded readers coupled with in-class vocabu-
lary work can afford opportunities for extensive reading as well as lexical
development. With graded readers usually being simplified versions of classical
literary work, they can simulate real-life reading for pleasure and can provide for
gradual and speedy development of required vocabulary for authentic reading
(Nation & Ming-Tzu, 1999).
Despite efforts to improve vocabulary, L2 readers may not always possess nec-
essary amounts of vocabulary knowledge. Looking-up meanings in a dictionary is
likely to reduce the reading speed, if not the pleasure of reading. It has been shown
that good readers possess and employ some effective lexical inferencing skills
when encountered with unknown vocabulary (Grabe & Stoller, 2013). Less skilled
L2 readers may benefit from some explicit instruction on how they can infer mean-
ings of unfamiliar vocabulary. Teachers, then, may purposefully illustrate good
models of lexical inferencing in their reading classes and encourage their students
to experiment with those strategies.
It is important to note that one of the ways to reduce the negative effects of
inadequate vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension can be by increas-
ing or activating reader’s relevant background knowledge. Schmitt et al. (2011)
found that reading on a relatively familiar topic had a considerably more facilita-
tive effect on reading comprehension than reading about a relatively less familiar
topic, although both texts had similar Flesch–Kincaid readability figures. Further,
more familiar texts can be conducive to incidental vocabulary acquisition.

eelt0500.indd 4 10/31/2017 8:40:39 PM

 Role of Vocabulary in Teaching Reading 5

Therefore, in addition to dealing with unknown vocabulary in a text, teachers can

also consider conducting prereading activities to activate their students’ prior
knowledge about the topic covered in a given text to facilitate the reciprocal inter-
action between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. With the pro-
vision of such assistance, L2 readers may both learn from and enjoy reading more.

SEE ALSO: Academic Vocabulary List; Activation of Prior Knowledge

­References

Erçetin, G. (2003). Exploring ESL learners’ use of hypermedia reading glosses. CALICO
Journal, 20, 261–83.
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Grabe, W. P., & Stoller, F. L. (2013). Teaching and researching reading. New York, NY: Routledge.
Hu, M., & Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension.
Reading in a Foreign Language, 13, 403–30.
Laufer, B. (1992). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In H. Bejoint &
P. Arnaud (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 126–32). Basingstoke, England:
Macmillan.
Laufer, B., & Ravenhorst-Kalovski, G. (2010). Lexical threshold revisited: Lexical text
coverage, learners’ vocabulary size and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 22 (1), 15–30.
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P., & Ming-Tzu, K. W. (1999). Graded readers and vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign
Language, 12(2), 355–80.
Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. (1997). Vocabulary enhancement activities and reading for
meaning in second language vocabulary acquisition. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.),
Second language vocabulary acquisition: A rationale for pedagogy (pp. 174–200). Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press.
Perfetti, C. (2007). Reading ability: Lexical quality to comprehension. Scientific Studies of
Reading, 11(4), 357–83.
Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual. Basingstoke,
England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Schmitt, N., Jiang, X., & Grabe, W. (2011). The percentage of words known in a text and
reading comprehension. The Modern Language Journal, 95, 26–43.

eelt0500.indd 5 10/31/2017 8:40:39 PM