Lexical knowledge and reading comprehension in Papua New Guinea

English for Academic Purposes Related to Dentistry: Analyzing the Reading Comprehension Process

“…He maintains that by providing adequate input, teachers can scaffold and challenge students towards learning; what students already know helps them understand and incorporate new knowledge. Based on this, Krashen (1989) suggests that English language learners acquire vocabulary and spelling through input received during reading, something other researchers corroborated (Horst, 2005;Laufer, 1992;Reynolds, 2014).…”

“…Some language researchers state that there is a relationship between the amount of vocabulary known and the understanding of written texts (Harkio & Pietilä, 2016;Harwood, 2002;Laufer, 1992;Meara, 1996;Qian, 2002); therefore, the bigger the students' lexicon, the more they will probably understand texts, making appropriate connections, and the less they will have to rely on dictionaries and glossaries, a situation which allows them to focus on meaning. Based on this fact, the hypothesis that the bigger the lexis related to dentistry students possess, the better they will understand written texts related to dentistry, was one of the focuses of this study.…”

“…According to Laufer (1992), Nation (1990), Wallace (2007), and Harkio and Pietilä (2016), there is a relationship between the comprehension of a written text and the percentage of known words. In this sense, Schmitt et al (2011) state that second language learners should learn about 8,000 to 9,000 word families to comprehend texts as they need to know around 98% of the vocabulary in a text to understand it.…”

“…In this sense, Schmitt et al (2011) state that second language learners should learn about 8,000 to 9,000 word families to comprehend texts as they need to know around 98% of the vocabulary in a text to understand it. However, Laufer (1992) and Nation and Waring (1997) suggest that second language learners need around 3,000 high frequency word families to understand a written text. This shows that results differ widely among researchers and that a continuum with different degrees of understanding exists for learners who have a range between 3,000 and 9,000 words.…”

“…Uccelli et al (2015) point out that eap is largely "academic language as academic vocabulary" (p. 338) and that it is based on the fact that academic language registers differ from other registers. In addition, different studies (Cruz & D' Alessandro, 2015;Marshall & Gilmour, 1993) mention that previous knowledge regarding texts' topics enhances comprehension. These facts show the importance of designing disciplinary-oriented courses where students feel motivated as they have successful experiences.…”