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objective is to produce learners who read well. So, this suggestion contradicts with the finding
of Mohammadi and Shakouri (2014) which states teaching VD is better for understanding
reading comprehension. Other than rote memorization of word spelling or memorization of
word definitions, ESL teachers may also implement other instructions in the ESL classroom
with the aim to produce richer word knowledge.
Due to a high correlation of VB and reading comprehension, reading without some
vocabulary acquisition instructions would hamper their understanding of the texts. So, activities
such as extensive reading should be supplemented with some vocabulary exercises to assist the
students in vocabulary acquisition and make reading worth the effort. Since learning VB is vital
for understanding a reading text, pre-teaching vocabulary in every reading activity can lessen
the students’ struggles with vocabulary. Other than reducing the number of unfamiliar words,
pre-teaching can also boost vocabulary acquisition which helps learners to comprehend better
in future.
The present study has found that learners need at least 7000 word families to
comprehend adequately in MUET reading comprehension. Thus, needless to say that learners
should realise the importance of learning VB as this skill would assist them to acquire more
vocabulary independently for input-based learning throughout their academic life and beyond.
As reading is a vital aid learning a second language, the benefits are manifold if one has
mastered 8000-9000 word families which is recommended by Nation (2006) and Laufer
Ravenhorst-Kalovski (2010) for adequate reading authentic materials. Tan & Goh, (2017)
suggest a larger VB (i.e. 10000 word families) if a learner wants to be a proficient reader. So,
with large VB, reading would not be difficult, understanding texts may help to increase the
learner’s knowledge and thus creating positive attitude towards reading.
Indeed, it can be claimed that reading comprehension might require a large vocabulary
(VB) instead of in-depth word meaning. However, this does not mean that ESL learners do not
need to learn words well. Perhaps, VD is more inclined to be correlated with writing as has
been stated by Li and Kirby (2014) and Wang (2014). Thus, it would be interesting for future
correlational studies to include the MUET writing component. Besides that, it should be noted
that the VD in this study is only partially operationalised where it covers word associations,
semantics and collocational relationships. Undeniably, VD includes other lexical aspects such
as spoken and written forms, grammatical knowledge, knowledge of word parts, word’s register
and frequency knowledge (Nation, 1990, 2001). It can be envisioned that the study of VD could
be extended to other lexical aspects which provides more extensive findings of VD.
The Malaysian Examinations Council is responsible for the administration of the
MUET since the commencement of the exam in 1999. After eight years, the MUET syllabus
was revised in 2006 to ensure that it maintains its relevancy as a standardized language test in
the country. It is hoped that the findings of the study may also be beneficial to the Malaysian
Examinations Council in their effort to revise the MUET syllabus in the near future especially
the reading component seeing that the MOE are planning to calibrate the MUET with the
CEFR. Perhaps, the Malaysian Examinations Council could take CEFR vocabulary into
consideration for MUET test development in future.

REFERENCES

Arifur Rahman. (2017). Association among vocabulary size, academic achievement, English
language proficiency, and language dominance. (Unpublished Master Thesis), Universiti
Putra Malaysia.
Akbarian, I. & Alavi, S. M. (2013). Comparing the contribution of vocabulary breadth to IELTS
and TOEFL reading subtests. Porta Linguarum, 20, 135–151.

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