Depth of academic vocabulary knowledge - Investigating depth of academic vocabulary knowledge among language-minority community college students

Sep 14, 2026

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Little is known about language minority community college students’ depth of L2 academic vocabulary knowledge, and how it connects to breadth of L2 vocabulary knowledge and to their L1 academic skills. This exploratory study involved 10 language minority students in advanced ESL or introductory content courses. Assessments included the University Word Levels Test for breadth, a modified Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Task for depth, and an L1 academic writing task. Results show that greater breadth accompanies greater depth, and weaker L1 and English academic skills align with particularly weak vocabulary knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

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Introduction

Research gap and study focus

Academic vocabulary knowledge: breadth and depth

Study rationale and background

Depth of academic vocabulary knowledge: Investigating depth of academic vocabulary knowledge among language-minority community college students Maricel G. Santos San Francisco State University, California, USA ABSTRACT ~~ ~~ Little is known about language minority community college students’ depth of L2 academic vocabulary knowledge, including how it relates to their breadth of L2 academic vocabulary knowledge and the relationship to their L1 skills. This exploratory study was carried out with a sample of 10 language minority students enrolled in either advanced ESL language classes or introductory content courses at a U.S. urban community college. Students completed several language assessment tasks, including: the University Word Levels Test (Beglar & Hunt, 1999) to assess breadth of academic word knowledge; a modiﬁed Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Task, based on Paribakht andWesche (1993) and Wesche and Paribakht (1996), to assess depth of academic word; and a native language (L1) academic writing task to assess L1 academic proﬁciency. Data indicate that students with greater breadth of academic word knowledge also demonstrated greater depth of academic words. Students’ L1 academic proﬁciency was also related to variation in the students’ academic vocabulary knowledge, with those students exhibiting weak academic skills in both the L1 and English demonstrating particularly weak academic vocabulary knowledge. KEYWORDS: academic language, community college students, English as Second Language Learning, language minority, lexicon, vocabulary learning Introduction Language-minority students1 make up an increasingly substantial proportion of the U.S. community college enrolment, enriching the linguistic and ethnic diversity on these campuses (Grubb, 1999; Laanan, 2000) . According to the United States Institute of International Education2, students from Asian countries accounted for roughly 60% of the overall international student population at U.S. colleges and universities in 2009. Recent research also suggests that the Asian-Paciﬁc American student population enrolled at U.S. community colleges, 1 The term “language minority students” refers to students enrolled in U. S. schools who speak another language besides English at home, including foreign-born students and those born in the U. S. (Crawford, 1997) . 2 Source: [http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/page/CommunityCollegeData/](http://opendoors.iienetwork.org/page/CommunityCollegeData/) Reﬂections on English Language Teaching, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 19–42 20 Maricel G. Santos in particular, are relatively recent immigrants (Wang, Chang, & Lew, 2009). These trends reﬂect in part improved access to higher education in Asian countries, such as Nepal and Vietnam, where in years past only the privileged could obtain a college degree or study abroad. Many U.S. community colleges are able to provide students with a costeffective alternative to four-year institutions, as well as a relatively more supportive context to ease into U.S. college life (e.g., due to the availability of smaller classes and access to instructors) . These trends prompt a few overarching questions which guide the research to be presented here: What are the learning needs of those language-minority students who enter U.S. college life via the community college system? What do we know about the students’ academic readiness for college work? In contrast to the preponderance of studies of the academic skills of students enrolled at four-year institutions, research on students in the community college system is scant. In an effort to ﬁll this research gap, I present the following study which focuses on the acquisition of academic English and literacy skills, which, for learners seeking a college degree, represents one of the most important challenges—one that will shape their level of participation and success in the post-secondary environment (Reder, 2000; Santos, 2009; Wiley, 1993). Although th

FAQs

What was the goal of the exploratory study?

To investigate language-minority community college students’ depth of L2 academic vocabulary knowledge and examine how it relates to breadth of L2 academic vocabulary knowledge and to their L1 skills.

How were breadth and depth of academic vocabulary knowledge measured?

Breadth was assessed using the University Word Levels Test. Depth was assessed using a modified Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Task based on established frameworks.

What did the data show about the relationship between vocabulary breadth and depth?

Students with greater breadth of academic word knowledge also demonstrated greater depth of academic words.

Sep 14, 2026

Uploaded by Aldword