The Comparison of receptive and productive vocabulary size of Afghan tertiary students

Abstract

This quantitative and qualitative study was designed to find out the receptive and productive vocabulary size of Afghan tertiary students. Furthermore, it investigated the differences between the receptive and productive vocabulary size and explained it through the context of vocabulary learning and teaching for Afghan students. For this purpose, the study used Vocabulary Size Test (VST) to gauge the receptive vocabulary knowledge and Vocabulary Level Controlled Productive Test (VLCPT) to find out the productive vocabulary. 54 senior students participated in the study from the English department of Nangrahar University. Three instructors were interviewed to explore the vocabulary learning context of the participants. The data was analyzed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for significant difference, frequency and percentage. Furthermore, t-test was conducted to investigate the significance of the difference between the receptive (VST) and productive (VLCPT) test results. The interview data was analyzed for common patterns of opportunities provided for learning vocabulary. The study found that the participants’ receptive vocabulary was larger than productive but the gap was not significant. Moreover, the vocabulary learning context of the participants’ was not suitable for the best vocabulary increment. This is followed by suggestions for instructors to be implemented in future vocabulary teaching, for example, to dedicate more class time to deliberate vocabulary learning and to create assignments for incidental vocabulary learning outside the class.