“The study of Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension

among the Grade 10 students of the Holy Cross of Agdao”

_____________________________________________________________

Researchers:

Andre Michael Capuyan

Kc Mae Nacilla

Simon Odchigue

Reighn Tagilansang

Emmanuel Galo

Marc Ramos

Ava Nardo

_____________________________________________________________

Submitted to:

Mrs. Carmela E. Sun

Language Teacher

Date:
Background of the Study

So do students really understand what they are reading? Are they able to express
verbally or in written communication what they have read? Understanding English
Language will never be easy without learning its concepts and principles and because it
contains so many words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings. In this
section of English comes the part where we need to hone our vocabulary and reading
comprehension skills.

Vocabulary learning is an essential part in foreign language learning as the meanings

of new words are very often emphasized, whether in books or in classrooms. It is also
central to language teaching and is of paramount importance to a language learner.

Reading comprehension is a skill that is critical in the educational success of all

individuals. Without adequate reading comprehension skills, students can struggle in many
subject areas. Reading comprehension is an important skill needed for all subject areas of
school. Subjects, other than reading or literature, where comprehension skills are
significantly important include science, social studies and math.

To generalize vocabulary focuses on the recognition of words and identification of its

meaning while reading comprehension is all about the understanding and giving meaning to
words. Without vocabulary, reading comprehension cannot take place. For reading
comprehension is dependent to the other.

We researchers chose to research and to study about Vocabulary Acquisition and

Reading Comprehension because it is a common problem among the people who lacks the
skill to comprehend a statement or text very well, because of the little amount of vocabulary
that they know. Through this study it will make us know and realize how important
vocabulary and reading comprehension skills is.
 In the Japan vocabulary acquisition should be learned and studied by the students in
there different schools because people there tend to have difficulties in understanding
English language. Schools in Japan tend to not practice English language resulting in
students having low vocabulary of words.

In the Philippines Vocabulary Acquisition starts in the pre-school years of a Filipino

child, in that period the children gives meaning in everything he/she sees in the world and
tonight by his/her parents. As the child grows his/her vocabulary builds and as vocabulary
builds he/she can then comprehend what he/she reads.
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

1. What is the level of Vocabulary Acquisition among the Grade 10 students of the Holy
Cross of Agdao in terms of:

1.1 Context Clues

1.2 Semantic Clues?

2. What is the level of Reading Comprehension among the Grade 10 students of the
Holy Cross of Agdao in terms of:

2.1 Summarizing

2.2 Synthesizing?

3. Is there any significant relationship between Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading

Comprehension among the Grade 10 students of the Holy Cross of Agdao?

4. Is there any significant difference between Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading

Comprehension among the Grade 10 students of the Holy Cross of Agdao?
Hypothesis

1. There is no significant relationship between Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading

Comprehension among the Grade 10 Students in Holy Cross of Agdao.

2. There is no significant difference Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension

among the Grade 10 Students in Holy Cross of Agdao.
Review of Related Literature

Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary Acquisition is learning and understanding new terminology to such a

degree that it can be used accurately in oral and written communication. Between the ages
of two and five, children learn an estimated 1500 new words every year, or about 5 words a
day (Beck & McKeown, 1991).

Vocabulary acquisition is essential for science understanding, since the majority of

terms in science are specific to a particular field or discipline and are not used in casual
conversation. In addition, those terms that are used in everyday language are often used in
ways that are not scientifically correct (Snow, 2008).Students need to engage in a variety of
explicit vocabulary acquisition activities to become familiar with such a large number of new
words and concepts. 95%-98% of the words in science text need to be familiar in order for
a reader to infer the meaning of unknown words.

Language Acquisition

Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to

perceive and comprehend language, as well as to produce and use words and sentences to
communicate. One of the quintessential human traits is Language Acquisition, because non-
humans do not communicate by using language. Language acquisition usually refers to first-
language acquisition, which studies infants' acquisition of their native language. This is
distinguished from second-language acquisition, which deals with the acquisition (in
both children and adults) of additional languages
 In Linguistic who are interested in child language acquisition for many years question
how language is acquired, Lidz et Al states "The question of how these structures are
acquired, then, is more properly understood as the question of how a learner takes the
surface forms in the input and converts them into abstract linguistic rules and
representations."[3] So we know language acquisition involves structures, rules and

representation. The capacity to successfully use language requires one to acquire a range of
tools including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and an extensive vocabulary.
Language can be vocalized as in speech or manual as in sign.

 Vocabulary Development

Vocabulary development refers to the process by which people acquire words.

Babbling shifts towards meaningful speech as infants grow and produce their first words
around the age of one year.

In early word learning, infants build their vocabulary slowly. By the age of 18 months,
infants can typically produce about 50 words and begin to make word combinations. In
order to build their vocabularies, infants must learn about the meanings that words carry.

 Vocabulary

A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually

developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and
acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in
learning a second language.

Vocabulary can be defined as '' words we must know to communicate effectively; words
in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)''
(Neuman&Dwyer, 2009, p. 385).

Vocabulary knowledge is often viewed as a critical tool for second language learners
because a limited vocabulary in a second language impedes successful communication.
Underscoring the importance of vocabulary acquisition, Schmitt (2000) emphasizes that
“lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the acquisition of a
second language” p. 55)

 Receptive Vocabulary and Expressive Vocabulary

Receptive vocabulary is words that learners recognize and understand when they are
used in context, but which they cannot produce. It is vocabulary that learners recognize
when they see or meet in reading text but do not use it in speaking and writing (Stuart
Webb, 2009).

Productive vocabulary is the words that the learners understand and can pronounce
correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing. It involves what is needed for
receptive vocabulary plus the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time. Therefore,
productive vocabulary can be addressed as an active process, because the learners can
produce the words to express their thoughts to others (Stuart Webb, 2005).

Receptive vocabulary refers to all the words that can be understood by a person,
including spoken, written, or manually signed words. In contrast, expressive vocabulary
refers to words that a person can express or produce, for example, by speaking or writing.
In general, receptive vocabulary appears to develop before expressive vocabulary over the
course of early language development, and receptive vocabulary is generally larger than
expressive vocabulary [3]. However, language development throughout childhood is often
more complex, with expressive vocabulary development sometimes exceeding receptive
vocabulary and vice versa [3]. For example, a child may produce a word with imperfect
understanding of its meaning and later learn through. Burger A., Chong I. (2011) Receptive
Vocabulary. In: Goldstein S., Naglieri J.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and
Development. Springer, Boston, MA

 Morphology
 Morphology is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other
words in the same language. .It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words, such as
stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morphology also looks at parts of speech,
intonation and stress, and the ways context can change a word's pronunciation and
meaning. Morphology differs from morphological typology, which is the classification of
languages based on their use of words and lexicology, which is the study of words and how
they make up a language's vocabulary.

 Syntax

Syntax is the set of rules, principles, and processes that govern the structure of
sentences in a given language, specifically word order and punctuation. The term syntax is
also used to refer to the study of such principles and processes. The goal of many
syntacticians is to discover the syntactic rules common to all languages.

 Lexis

Lexis or lexicon is the complete set of all possible words in a language. In this sense,
child, children, child's and children's are four different words in the English lexicon. In
systemic-functional linguistics, a lexis or lexical item is the way one calls a particular thing or
a type of phenomenon. Since lexis from a systemic-functional perspective is a way of
calling, it can be realized by multiple grammatical words such as "The White House", "New
York City" or "heart attack". Moreover, since a lexis is a way of calling, different words such
as child, children, child's and children's may realize the same lexical item.

Context Clues

Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or unusual word.
The clue may appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers, or it may
follow in a preceding sentence. Because of one’s vocabulary is gained through reading, it is
important that you will be able to recognize and take advantage of context clues.

There are at least four kinds of context clues that are quite common: 1) a synonym
(or repeat context clue) which appears in that sentence; 2) an antonym (or contrast context
clue) that has the opposite meaning, which can reveal the meaning of an unknown term; 3)
an explanation for an unknown words is given ( a definition context clue) within the
sentence or in the sentence immediately preceding; and 4) specific examples ( an example
context clue) used to define the term.

There may also be word-part context clues in which a common prefix, suffix, or root
will suggest at least part of the meaning of a word. A general sense context clue lets the
reader puzzle out a words meaning from whatever information is available – and this is the
most common kind of context clue.

 Semantic Clues

Semantic Clues are hints based on meaning that help readers decode and
comprehend a text.

 Semantics

Semantics is the study of the meaning of linguistic expression. The language can be
a natural language, such as English or Navajo, or an artificial language, like a computer
programming language.

Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension is as the level of understanding of a text or message. This

understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are written, and how
they trigger knowledge outside the text/message. Comprehension is a "creative,
multifaceted process" dependent upon four language skills: phonology, syntax, semantics,
and pragmatics. Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and
effortlessly. It is also determined by an individual's cognitive development, which is "the
construction of thought processes". Some people learn through education or instruction and
others through direct experiences.

Between 1969 and to about 2000 a number of "strategies" were devised for teaching
students to employ self-guided methods for improving reading comprehension. In 1969
Anthony Manzo designed and found empirical support for the ReQuest, or Reciprocal
Questioning Procedure, it was the first method to convert emerging theories of social and
imitation learning into teaching methods through the use of a talk rotation between
students and teacher called cognitive modeling.[citation needed]

Since the turn of the 21st century, comprehension lessons usually consist of
students answering teachers' questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or
both, the whole group version of this practice also often included "Round-robin reading",
wherein teachers called on individual students to read a portion of the text. In the last

quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods were more
successful assessing rather than teaching comprehension.

 Visualization

Visualization is a "mental image" created in a person's mind while reading text, which
"brings words to life" and helps improve reading comprehension. Asking sensory questions
will help students become better visualizers.[19] Students can practice visualizing by
imagining what they "see, hear, smell, taste, or feel" when they are reading a page of a
picture book aloud, but not yet shown the picture. They can share their visualizations, then
check their level of detail against the illustrations.

Visualizing refers to our ability to create pictures in our heads based on text we read
or words we hear. It is one of many skills that makes reading comprehension possible. This
method is an ideal strategy to teach to young students who are having trouble reading.

 Non-Verbal Imagery

Media that utilizes schema to make connections either planned or not, more
commonly used within context such as: a passage, an experience, or one's imagination.
Some notable examples are emojis, emoticons, cropped and uncropped images, and
recently emojis which are humorous, cropped images that are used to elicit humor and
comprehension.
  Partner reading

Partner reading is a strategy created for pairs. The teacher chooses two appropriate
books for the students' to read. First they must read their own book. Once they have
completed this, they are given the opportunity to write down their own comprehensive
questions for their partner. The students swap books, read them out loud to one another
and ask one another questions about the book they read.

It allows students to take turns reading and provide each other with feedback as a
way to monitor comprehension. It provides a model of fluent reading and helps students

learn decoding skills by offering positive feedback. It provides direct opportunities for a
teacher to circulate in the class, observe students, and offer individual remediation.

 Summarizing

Summarizing is defined as taking a lot of information and creating a condensed

version that covers the main points, pulls together information in order to highlight the
important points, re-iterates the information, presents a cursory overview, demonstrates an
understanding of the overall meaning and it is also a basic reading technique.

Summarizing is relating the most important points in a text (or a portion of a text) in our
own words. In fiction we consider the basic story elements – main characters, setting, plot
and sometimes theme in a summary. In nonfiction we pull together the most important
information about a topic in a coherent way.

Proficient readers summarize both during and after reading. During reading, we
summarize to be sure we’ve “got it” before we continue. We may do this subconsciously in
easy text, but when the text gets more complicated, we often need to step back and
summarize to check our understanding. Where there are gaps, we know we have to use
other strategies or other resources to address them.

After reading, we summarize for various authentic purposes. When we want to

recommend a book to a friend, we summarize to explain what the book is about (without
giving away the ending). When we do research on nonfiction topics, we summarize to
capture what we want to remember from each source or portion of a source we use. Then
we summarize what is important to learn from our work.

 Synthesizing

Synthesizing is when readers change their thinking as they read. It Pulls together
information not only to highlight the important points, but also to draw your own
conclusions, Combines and contrasts information from different sources, Not only reflects
your knowledge about what the original authors wrote, but also creates something new out
of two or more pieces of writing. It Combines parts and elements from a variety of sources
into one unified entity, Focuses on both main ideas and details which Achieves new insight.
It is also a crucial aspect of reading comprehension and synthesizing is an advance reading
technique.
Theoretical Framework

This theory is anchored by (Chall, Jacobs, & Baldwin, 1990; Graves, 2000) states that
vocabulary or word knowledge is one of the best predictors of comprehension, It’s hard to
make meaning from text when words are either unknown or not clear. The relationship
between vocabulary knowledge and academic achievement is well established. As early as
1941, researchers estimated that for students in grade 4 through 12, a 6000-word gap
separated students at the 25th and 50th percentiles on standardized tests.

This theory is anchored by (Biemiller, 1999, 2004; Chall Jacobs, & Baldwin, 1990;
Hart & Risley, 1995, 1999) states that there are profound differences in vocabulary
knowledge among learners from different ability or socio-economic groups (toddlers through
high school). Research has found:

 First-grade children from higher-socio-economic groups know about twice as many

words as lower socio-economic children.
 High school seniors near the top of their class know about four times as many words
as their lower performing classmates.
 High performing third graders have vocabularies about equal to lowest-performing
twelfth graders.
 Socio-economic factors associated with poverty can be overcome by implementing a
strong vocabulary acquisition program.
 This theory is anchored by (Biemiller, 1999, 2004; Chall Jacobs, & Baldwin, 1990;
Hart & Risley, 1995, 1999) states that the relationship and background knowledge is strong.
At school, background knowledge manifests itself as vocabulary knowledge.

This theory is anchored by (Beck, Mckeown, & Kucan, 2002; Nagy, Anderson, &
Herman, 1987; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986) states the explicit vocabulary instruction is one of
the most important instructional interventions that teachers can use- particularly with love-
achieving students. Explicit vocabulary instruction increases student comprehension of new
materials by twelve percent.
Conceptual Framework

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Vocabulary Acquisition Reading Comprehension

 Context Clues  Summarizing

 Semantic Clues  Synthesizing

 Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Showing the Variables of the Study

Significance of the Study

Definition of Terms

Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary Acquisition is learning and understanding new terminology to such a

degree that it can be used accurately in oral and written communication.

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it, and understand its
meaning. This understanding comes from the interaction between the words that are
written, and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message

Grade 10 Students

This are the students involved in making the research and the ones who are being
researched for.

Holy Cross of Agdao

 A catholic diocesan private institution offering secondary education; this is the school
where the students are studying. It is the school being studied and observed regarding
Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension.

References