An Investigation into the Effects of Topic Familiarity on Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

This study aims to understand the relationship between text comprehension and incidental vocabulary gain, and the effect of topic familiarity on these variables. Freshman students of the ELT department at a state university took part in this repeated-measures design. A background questionnaire was employed to decide more and less familiar topics for the present group. On a five-point Likert scale, they were asked to rate how much familiar they are with the listed topics. Following the administration of the questionnaire, they read four contrived script-based texts two of which have a more familiar content, while the remaining two texts present less familiar information. Upon reading, they completed a free recall task. Passage sight vocabulary was tested 2 days and 18 days after reading the texts through vocabulary recognition and vocabulary production tasks. Correlational analyses and t-test results depicted robust effects of topic familiarity for all variables; however, the relationship between text comprehension and vocabulary gains was mediocre.

Keywords: Topic familiarity; incidental vocabulary acquisition; reading in a second language