The Correlation Between Students’ Depth of Word Knowledge and Reading Comprehension

Anggi Fitri Fauziah, Hamiddin Hamiddin, Atik Umamah

Abstract


Reading comprehension is a fundamental skill for EFL learners, yet many students encounter difficulties due to limited word knowledge. While breadth of word knowledge is important, depth of word knowledge has been shown to play a more decisive role in supporting comprehension. This study investigates the extent of the correlation between students’ depth of word knowledge and their reading comprehension, aiming to determine how strongly word knowledge depth influences their ability to understand written texts. The research employed a quantitative correlational design. The participants were 36 fourth-semester students from the English Education Department at the University of Islam Malang, selected through random sampling. Data were collected through a word knowledge test and a reading comprehension test, distributed via Google Forms, and analyzed using SPSS version 25. The results showed a Pearson Correlation value of 0.890 with a significance level of 0.000, indicating a strong and significant correlation between students’ depth of word knowledge and their reading comprehension.

Students with a deeper understanding of word knowledge demonstrated higher performance in reading comprehension. In conclusion, this study emphasizes the crucial role of word knowledge depth in enhancing reading comprehension. It is recommended that English language instruction place greater focus on developing students’ word knowledge depth through contextual learning, extensive reading, and varied practice to effectively improve their comprehension skills.

Keywords: depth of word knowledge, reading comprehension, correlation


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References


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