Vocabulary Knowledge Aspects: The Acquisition Order and their Relationships in Thai EFL High School Learners

Abstract

Vocabulary knowledge is a multi-aspect construct that is acquired through an incremental learning process (Henriksen, 1999; Read, 2000; Milton & Fitzpatrick, 2014; Nation, 2013; Schmitt, 2010, 2014). It is precise that research on vocabulary acquisition has found that vocabulary aspects are continually known at varying rates, which the receptive-productive foundation regulates (e.g., González-Fernández & Schmitt, 2019; Laufer & Goldstein, 2004; Nontasee & Sukying, 2020, 2021; Schmitt & Meara, 1997; Zhong, 2018). While the various aspects are related to one another, they are not always known simultaneously. The precise stages of the vocabulary acquisition process are still unknown, particularly in terms of the various developmental rates for vocabulary aspects (e.g., Chui, 2006; Chen & Truscott, 2010; Li & Kirby, 2015; Milton & Hopkins, 2006; Schmitt, 2008; Schmitt & Zimmerman, 2002; Webb, 2005). Various aspects of vocabulary knowledge in development have been fragmentarily investigated (Nation, 2013; Schmitt, 1995), but studies that examine vocabulary knowledge as a whole construct remain rare. It is also unclear how different vocabulary knowledge aspects are acquired and fit together (González-Fernández & Schmitt, 2019; Schmitt, 2014).

The present study thus aims to fill these gaps in the literature by exploring the construct of vocabulary knowledge as a multi-aspect framework. It will advance our understanding of the role of different vocabulary knowledge aspects and the nature of vocabulary acquisition and development and address the conceptualization of vocabulary knowledge aspects as the primary acquisition pattern in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Thailand.

This study investigated the multi-aspect nature of vocabulary knowledge by analyzing the acquisition order of different vocabulary knowledge aspects and their conceptualized relationships. Specifically, the study first measures different vocabulary aspects (written form, word part, form-meaning link, association, grammatical function, and collocation, at both reception and production), examines these aspects’ acquisition order, and at last, models the relationships between these various vocabulary aspects. The twelve vocabulary tests were individually used to assess any vocabulary aspects.

A battery test of vocabulary knowledge aspects based on Nation’s (2013) framework was conducted on 500 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Thailand. The results indicated that the receptive tests were scored higher than the productive tests in any knowledge aspect, showing significant differences, and all aspects were overall shown to be significant differences as well. There were also positive correlations between knowledge of the different aspects, varying degrees from small to large. Furthermore, an Implicational Scaling (IS) analysis illustrated an implicational pattern of vocabulary knowledge aspects and found that productive knowledge could be known without complete mastery of all aspects of receptive knowledge. Finally, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) demonstrated the benefit of the various vocabulary aspects to acquiring vocabulary knowledge. Overall, this research corroborates previous evidence for the vocabulary acquisition pattern and the conceptualization of vocabulary knowledge and provides empirical evidence in a Thai EFL context. It also implies that vocabulary knowledge is acquired along a developmental learning continuum. A need for a longitudinal research design is to examine and give a consistent or better picture of the acquisition pattern of vocabulary knowledge in Thai EFL learners.

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