Dimensions of lexical mastery and their relationships with listening and reading among beginner-to-low-intermediate learners of French

The extent to which lexical mastery consists of interrelated types of lexical knowledge has been widely discussed. Yet, few studies have explored whether lexical knowledge and processing are relatively independent or their contribution to listening and reading, particularly among beginner-to-low-intermediate learners of languages other than English. The current study examines the extent to which lexical knowledge and processing are (a) relatively independent and (b) predict listening and reading. 218 beginner-to-low intermediate adolescent learners of French completed a battery of tests, yielding measures of high-frequency lexical knowledge (meaning recognition and form recognition and recall), lexical processing (speed, stability, and automaticity of word recognition), and listening and reading proficiency. Results suggested that lexical knowledge and processing were relatively independent at this stage of proficiency. Lexical knowledge (but not processing) was found to strongly predict listening and reading. Findings underscore the importance of high-frequency vocabulary at these early stages.