Effectiveness of Morphological Intervention on Two Measures of Vocabulary Knowledge and Listening Comprehension

Abstract

The morphological intervention has been long advocated to enhance students’ vocabulary knowledge and language outcomes. Nevertheless, little is known about how the intervention affects listening comprehension through the mediation of vocabulary knowledge. To address this unanswered gap, this study used a quasi-experimental design to examine the direct effects of the morphological intervention on two measures of vocabulary knowledge (vocabulary depth and breadth) and listening comprehension and whether increased vocabulary depth and breadth mediate the effects of the intervention on listening comprehension. Two groups of Chinese university students (experimental n=32; control n=32) participated in this study. Results of MANOVA measurements indicated direct, significant effects of the intervention on vocabulary depth and breadth. Additionally, analysis from a PLS-SEM modeling found effects of morphological intervention on listening comprehension were totally indirect and the indirect effects were significantly mediated through both vocabulary depth and breadth. Notably, vocabulary depth showed a stronger mediating effect than vocabulary breadth. The findings of this research expanded the existing understanding of how morphological intervention improves EFL university students’ vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension.