| Title: |
Lexical Coverage and Reading Comprehension Revisited |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Stuart Webb; Ana Pellicer-Sánchez; Andi Wang |
| Source: |
Reading in a Foreign Language. 2025 37(1). |
| Availability: |
National Foreign Language Resource Center at University of Hawaii. 1859 East-West Road #106, Honolulu, HI 96822. e-mail: readfl@hawaii.edu; Web site: https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/ |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
21 |
| Publication Date: |
2025 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Reading Comprehension; Vocabulary; Difficulty Level; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Scores; Reading Tests; Graduate Students; Foreign Countries |
| Geographic Terms: |
United Kingdom |
| DOI: |
10.64152/10125/67517 |
| ISSN: |
1539-0578 |
| Abstract: |
The present study is a partial replication of the most widely cited study of lexical coverage and reading comprehension by Hu and Nation (2000). Ninety-four advanced L2 learners read a short story at one of 90%, 95%, 98%, and 100% lexical coverage and then completed a 14-item reading comprehension test. The results showed that although comprehension scores did tend to increase from 90% to 100% coverage, there were no statistically significant differences in comprehension scores between those who read the text with 90%, 95%, and 98% lexical coverage. Participants who read the text with 100% coverage did have significantly higher scores than those who read it at 90% and 95% coverage. The results also revealed that lexical coverage and perceived difficulty both have a role in predicting comprehension scores, but the amount of variation explained is small (11% and 8%, respectively). |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2025 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1486674 |
| Database: |
ERIC |