Chinese speakers’ vocabulary size


the case, 3 out of 5 of these students could expect nowhere near a manageable burden of unknown lexis, if the 95% coverage figure is accepted as accurate for basic–adequate comprehension and the remaining 2 are also 2% below this target. These predicted coverage figures suggest that reading would be a deeply laborious task for these students and suggest a stark educational predicament for the proportion of Chinese students with coverage levels such as these.


DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION


In comparison with the mixed sample, the Chinese-speakers exhibit lower mean receptive vocabulary knowledge, higher variance within IELTS bands, and weaker correlations between IELTS scores and vocabulary size. Given the consistency of the sample, these could be characteristics of this population of students, i.e., Chinese students may tend to have less predictable language skills underlying their IELTS scores than mixed samples of speakers of other languages. The weaker correlations evident here are in line with those found in Drummond (2018). The extent of variance in each overall IELTS band makes it impossible to determine anything meaningful about receptive vocabulary knowledge from OIS or IRS alone. A study which presented data from balanced samples of participants could more clearly establish whether the population of Chinese students consistently has a weaker relationship between IELTS scores and vocabulary size than other populations, but there is some evidence of it here. An enquiry into five Chinese students with VST scores lower than the mean for their OIS band demonstrates a strong likelihood of low coverage of texts in their chosen discipline, presenting a barrier to the


accumulation of knowledge and mastery in their fields. Due to space restrictions, potential responses to this are set out in brief.


The vocabulary testing in this study suggest that input needs to be provided for students with knowledge gaps in 2k and 3k lexis since, without this, reading texts, books and research articles is likely to be very difficult. Admissions procedures could be modified to include vocabulary testing, not to exclude students, but to indicate the potential challenge facing incoming students with smaller vocabularies. An individual student’s learning goals could potentially be shifted from improving IELTS scores alone to extending their vocabulary knowledge with pre-arrival materials. Embedded ESP support could potentially be provided to help students with smaller vocabularies. It is hoped that these data may prompt further scholarly investigation into the predicament facing Chinese students entering UK HE with language skills similar to those depicted here and such investigation could be extended to include listening and other skills. Pedagogic and institutional adjustments such as those suggested here may lead to more appropriate interventions both prior to and during their disciplinary studies, and could ultimately represent a more equitable situation for this large and valuable population of students for which we have considerable professional responsibility.


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