Investigating a Novel Approach to Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge

Abstract

This study explored an alternative approach to assessing individuals’ word knowledge by gauging the ability to recognize subtle similarities and differences among associated terms. Informed by the theoretical and empirical work on relational reasoning, the Measure of Vocabulary Knowledge through Relational Reasoning (MVKR²) was developed and validated. Participants were 338 college students who completed the MVKR², the Test of Relational Reasoning (TORR), and released items from the SAT Verbal and Math tests. The TORR and SAT tests were administered to examine the convergent and concurrent validities of the MVKR². Findings from item confirmatory analyses and correlations demonstrated that the MVKR² is a reliable and valid measure of vocabulary knowledge for college-age students. In addition, fluid relational reasoning ability was associated with the performance on this novel measure, but the association with vocabulary knowledge was stronger. When examined on the scale and item levels, the contribution of fluid relational reasoning varied across scales and items within each scale. This study offered an alternative way to examine vocabulary knowledge that has implications for future empirical research and instructional practice.

Keywords:

• Vocabulary knowledge
• vocabulary assessment
• relational reasoning
• college students
• measurement

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethics approval statement

The current study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Maryland College Park (ID: 1674423).

Permission to reproduce materials

The authors have permission from other sources to reproduce the materials used in this study.

Data availability statement

The study materials, data, and analytical codes are available by contacting the corresponding author of this study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the SPARC: Supporting Program for Advancing Research and Collaboration from College of Education at the University of Maryland College Park. The writing of this work was also supported by the National Science Foundation under the grant number: 2327398. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the funders.