Sessions

Survey validation through vocabulary analysis

The researcher explored how vocabulary knowledge may affect responses from L2 English users who were requested to complete Vandergrift’s (2005) Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ). Six participants (low-intermediate to advanced L2 English learners) from varied educational and professional backgrounds were recruited for this study. Participants were instructed to complete the MALQ and use textual enhancements (e.g., highlighting, underlining) to indicate the degree of familiarity with new or infrequently viewed words and phrases. Participants were also instructed to write notes regarding any unknown vocabulary expressions. After collecting the participants’ data, the researcher engaged in confirmation checks with each individual. The researcher entered the statements presented on the MALQ into the Compleat Lexical Tutor to determine the word families of the vocabulary used. The participants indicated that vocabulary items greater than the 3000-word family range and multiword expressions influenced responses, regardless of their language levels. Advanced L2 English users noted that a few construct items could be misinterpreted and become unintended distractors for lower level L2 users, while low-intermediate L2 English speakers emphasized the necessity of learning secondary and tertiary word meanings. All participants stated the need to learn multi-word units rather than vocabulary in isolation. During this presentation, I will discuss how participants were recruited and describe their backgrounds; how confirmation checks were conducted and analyzed; the limitations of this study; and how the methodology could be applied and modified for different contexts. Suggestions and comments from the attending audience will be warmly welcomed.