| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄第一科技大學 === 應用英語所 === 97 === A Study on the English Vocabulary Size of Taiwanese Vocational High School Students Student：Chi-chao Wu Advisor：Dr. Mei-ling Lee Department of English National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT For students in Taiwan, developing good English competence is one of the requirements for effective communication with the world. There is no doubt that vocabulary plays an important role in language learning and a learner‟s word knowledge will affect his or her ability to use English in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Although there are other factors that will also influence the acquisition of a foreign language, in general, students with a larger vocabulary size are likely to develop better language skills.
The researcher, being a secondary teacher with more than 20 years of experience in teaching English, has found that many Taiwanese vocational high school students suffer from loss of confidence and interest in the study of English. Their lack of adequate
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vocabulary knowledge seems to be the primary variable that hinders their learning. Therefore, the current study is designed to investigate and measure the English vocabulary size of Taiwanese vocational high school students. It is noteworthy that since this is one of the few studies assessing vocabulary size at this level in Taiwan, we expect that our findings will provide a fresh perspective for local educational policy makers, textbook writers, and English teachers to improve their effectiveness in the areas of their concern.
The current study sampled a total of 364 students from three vocational high schools in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan to participate in the study. Of the total number of participants, 122 were first-year students, 127 were second-year, and 115 were third-year. Three vocabulary tests of high frequency vocabulary were administered to each of the participants: the 1,000-word level test (Nation, 1993), the 2,000-word level test and the 3,000-word level test (Schmitt, 2000). The statistical results indicate that the first-, second-, and third-year students on average failed to achieve mastery of the most frequent 1,000-word vocabulary level, which in this study means acquiring at least 72.2% of the basic 1,000 words. Other major findings are summarized as follows: (1) the average vocabulary size of first-year students was about 370 words, ranging from 270 words to 580 words; (2) the average vocabulary size of second-year students‟
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vocabulary size approached 420 words, ranging from 300 words to 650 words; (3) the average vocabulary size of third-year students was approximately 490 words, ranging from 300 words to 650 words; (4) the average vocabulary size of the third-year students was larger than that of the second-year and the first-year students, and the second-year students knew more English words than the first-year students. Pedagogical and policy implications are discussed.
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