Impact of Breadth and Depth of Lexical Knowledge on Iranian Advanced/Intermediate EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension: The Case of Gender and Proficiency

Abstract

The current study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between the breadth and the depth of lexical knowledge and reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. The current study also tries to find the effect of gender and language proficiency level of learners on the breadth and the depth of lexical knowledge and reading comprehension of Iranian EFL learners. The participants of the study were fifty-two intermediate and advanced level in males and females majoring in English Translation at Pazhuhesh University of Isfahan. The level of language proficiency of participants had been checked through an OPT by the university in advance. Data collection was carried out in two sessions. In the first session, two vocabulary knowledge tests, that is, the breadth and the depth were administered to the participants. In the second session, the reading comprehension test was administered to the participants. The results of the data analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge and Iranian advanced/intermediate EFL learner’s reading comprehension performance totally. The results further showed that gender and language proficiency level of learners have an effect on Iranian EFL learners’ reading performance and vocabulary knowledge. The findings can have implications for EFL learners, teachers and material developers.