Vocabulary size of Turkish EFL learners at the tertiary level and its’ impact on their reading and listening comprehension

This study explores the relationship between vocabulary size of the Turkish EFL learners at the tertiary level and their reading and listening comprehension abilities. 60 randomly selected Turkish EFL learners enrolled in the ELT preparatory program participated in the study. The participants’ vocabulary size, which was measured by Nation and Beglar’s Vocabulary Size Test, found 5,785-word families in English. This result can be interpreted as meeting the standards of vocabulary size for undergraduate non-native students enrolled in an EMI university as they are required to have vocabulary knowledge of approximately 5000-6000-word families in English. The correlation and regression analysis processes revealed that there was a strong relationship between EFL learners’ vocabulary size and reading skills and a moderate correlation was obtained between vocabulary size and listening comprehension. The results, which were in parallel with the previous research findings, were discussed regarding the importance of vocabulary in foreign language learning and some pedagogical suggestions were provided.