Relationship between General Reading Ability and Vocabulary Recognition Skills Do Students Perform Differently with respect to Vocabulary Types?

Abstract

Findings of earlier research suggested that vocabulary knowledge plays a pivotal role in understanding the
meanings contained in academic texts. Hence, Ethiopian university learners‟ success in their academic studies
largely depends upon the breadth and depth of their vocabulary knowledge. Consequently, the current study
aims at identifying the relationship between general reading ability and vocabulary recognition skills with
respect to parts of speech. The population included 3rd-year undergraduate students at three universities in
southern Ethiopia. Out of 89, only 59 of the test-takers‟ scores were used for computation. The study used tests
to determine learners‟ reading levels and vocabulary recognition skills. The purpose of the cloze test was to
determine students‟ general reading ability by categorizing them into different reading levels. On the other hand,
the vocabulary recognition test was aimed at identifying how students fared with parts of speech. Correlation
coefficients and descriptive statistics were used to find out the relationship between the tests and how students
performed in relation to the parts of speech, respectively. The findings revealed that the tests are highly correlated.
Besides, the students‟ performance in view of the parts of speech showed a discernible pattern. More
specifically, the students had little difficulty with „past participle‟ and „adjective‟ while they had much difficulty
with „gerund‟ and „adverb‟. Finally, the study outcome suggests that course designers and instructors who offer
skills courses specifically Reading Skills and Communicative English Skills should give more coverage to
vocabulary activities which focus on gerunds and adverbs.