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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/172164
Measuring orthographic and phonological vocabulary size in EFL learners: the impact of cognateness and out-of-school exposure
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The present study compares the orthographic and phonological vocabulary size of second language
(L2) learners in intermediate-advanced stages of language acquisition and investigates the impact of
cognateness and out-of-school exposure across vocabularies. Ten Spanish-Catalan bilinguals and
twenty Italian university learners of English were administered with two comparable vocabulary size
tests adapted from the V_Yes/No vocabulary size test. Evidence of a significant gap between the
orthographic and phonological vocabulary size in favour of the former was found. As V_Yes/No
employs both real words and nonwords, the target items in the vocabulary tests which overlapped
with learners’ L1 were coded as cognates or nonword-cognates. Upon closer examination of these
items, a positive relationship between cognateness and learners’ lexical choices was revealed.
Furthermore, by means of a questionnaire, data regarding learners’ out-of-school exposure to English
was gathered. Correlation analyses revealed differences between the two input modalities; significant
relationships were found between the orthographic vocabulary size, watching captioned audio-visual
material, reading and listening to music. The strongest correlation with phonological vocabulary size
was instead obtained with reading. Pedagogical implications which could bridge the divide between
the orthographic vocabulary and its phonological counterpart are discussed.
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Màster de Lingüística Aplicada i Adquisició de Llengües en Contextos Multilingües, Departament de Filologia Anglesa i Alemanya, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutora: Carme Muñoz
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NARDON, Andrea. Measuring orthographic and phonological vocabulary size in EFL learners: the impact of cognateness and out-of-school exposure. [consulted: 12 of October of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/172164