Modality, Vocabulary Size and Question Type as Mediators of Listening Comprehension Skill

Abstract

Most studies that have investigated the relationship between lexical knowledge and listening performance have used vocabulary assessments administered in the visual modality (e.g., Mecartty, 2000). However, the outcomes of vocabulary tests might vary as a function of the modality in which they are carried out (e.g. Milton & Hopkins, 2005, 2007). Aural knowledge of words might be particularly important in listening, therefore using visually measured lexical knowledge as a predictor of listening performance could be problematic. To explore this issue, 51 English as a second language (L2) learners from a vocational training institute in Hong Kong aged between 18 and 19 were given two different versions of the X Lex vocabulary test: (1) the visual X Lex (Meara & Milton, 2003) and (2) the Aural Lex (Milton & Hopkins, 2005). The listening sub-test of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was also administered to measure participants’ listening performance. The results indicated that (1) participants scored higher in the X Lex than the Aural Lex; (2) the Aural Lex was a stronger predictor of listening performance than the X Lex; (3) participants’ proficiency in aural vocabulary influenced performance on the listening test. These results suggest that visual measurements of lexical knowledge may not as accurately reflect the learners’ aural knowledge of words and therefore, the modality in which (lexical) knowledge is assessed when estimating vocabulary as a predictor of other skills needs to be considered