Vocabulary learning and learners’ ability to transfer their knowledge into L2 reading comprehension: A case for translation

Abstract The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the students who learn their lexical knowledge through translation method are able to transfer the knowledge into reading comprehension .The study consisted of four steps, namely, reading pre-test, lexical instruction, vocabulary testing, and reading post-test. The results showed a significant improvement in the reading scores of the learners in Grade One and Two after the vocabulary instruction treatments were introduced. The results indicated that low-proficiency (Novice-Mid and Novice-High) were able to transfer their lexical knowledge learned through decontextualized translation equivalent teaching method into reading comprehension tasks. The apparent discrepancy between the findings of the present study and that of Prince (1996) is also discussed with reference to “task-induced involvement load hypothesis”.