International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org THE EFFECT OF THE NUMBER OF AFFIXES ON
VOCABULARY LEARNING OF IRANIAN ADVANCED EFL
STUDENTS
Sorayya Mousavi
M.A. Student, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Gazvin, Iran
[email protected]
Mohammad Taghi Hasani
Assistant professor, Imam Hossein University, Tehran
& Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran
ABSTRACT
This study examines the relationship between the number of affixes and vocabulary learning of
Iranian advanced EFL (English as foreign language) students. In order to carry out the
investigation, 43 (male and female) advanced students in Qazvin Province in Iran were chosen
randomly, and then the initial number of students was reduced to 37 after the administration of
proficiency pre-test. The data were collected using two separate tests. One of the tests was a
proficiency test and the other was a vocabulary recognition test. Students were given information
about paying attention to the word parts when answering the questions. One-way Repeated
Measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The results showed that advanced students who
used word formation strategy were aware of it and used that strategy in their test. Then, by using
word formation instruction in general and affixation in particular teachers can create a creative
situation for teaching and keep learners interested and motivated for learning vocabulary.
KEYTERMS: Vocabulary knowledge, Vocabulary learning strategies, Affix, Prefix, and Suffix.
INTRODUCTION
The present study is concerned with the number of affixes and its effect on vocabulary learning
of Iranian advanced EFL students. Vocabulary is a fundamental basis of every sentence in every
language. Knowing frequent words in learning English plays a crucial role in promoting learners’
abilities in listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Hodges (1984) defines vocabulary as a collection of words of a language which is at the disposal
of a speaker or writer. Nation (2001) introduced three reasons for the importance of vocabulary
skills: First, it is a necessary part of improving reading comprehension. Reading comprehension
has a strong relationship with the level of vocabulary knowledge (Nourie & Davidson, 1992).
Second, by vocabulary learning, learners can get more academic success. Third, it prepares
success in life. Moreover, Waring (2002) emphasizes the importance of constructing a reliable
body of vocabulary knowledge to learn another language linguistically and psychologically and
without this reliable knowledge of vocabulary little can be learned in foreign language and also
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org by structuring a magnificent vocabulary knowledge domain quite actively, one can be capable of
functioning in that language competently.
Considering everything that is involved in learning a word, it is not surprising that student’s
vocabulary knowledge develops through a variety of ways. They learn words from others such as
parents, teachers, and peers through contexts. What they read, hear, see, and experience in their
lives through games, conversation, television, radio, and many other channels provides then
conditions to acquire vocabulary. Moreover, they learn words through their knowledge of word
parts by using resources such as dictionaries, glossaries. Then, we see that it takes a lot of time to
reach deep knowledge and there are so many ways of learning words; teaching and development
can be discussed as important parts of vocabulary program. And also, it should be taken into
consideration that there is a wide variety of factors which affect learners and vocabulary learning
strategies. These factors are age, motivation, cooperative learning, aptitude, prior knowledge, and
anxiety in second language learning which were shown to be more related to learner and
vocabulary learning strategies. According to Oxford (1992), teachers must be aware of variables
such as gender, age, motivation, self-confidence, anxiety, language learning styles and strategies
and many other factors which differ in various learners in order to teach successfully.
One of the most popular strategies in vocabulary learning supported by many researchers is using
affix knowledge (Bauer & Nation, 1993; Nation, 1990). Therefore, to obtain a complete picture
of vocabulary learning concerning using affix knowledge, it would be desirable to observe the
students’ performance in the light of their knowledge about prefixes and suffixes. According to
Scalise (1984), “an affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word to form a new word"(p. 79). He
states that affix is a meaningful letter or group of word parts which changes meaning when it is
added to the beginning or the end of a word.
Nation (2001) declares that knowing a word means knowing the member of the family of the
word and by developing proficiency, the number of the members of this word family will
increase. In addition, research has shown that using associations in learning vocabulary is more
effective than rote learning. He also mentions that most researchers distinguish three main ways
in which a learner’s vocabulary increase: through deliberately learning or being taught, through
learning by meeting in context, and through learning new words by gaining control of prefixes,
suffixes and other word building devices.
Statement of the problem
According to Blachowicz, Fisher, and Watts (2005), the difficulties of word learning lies at least
in three things: (1) the word characteristics itself, (2) the learner characteristics, (3) the level of
word learning desired. All word learning needs a meta-cognitive approach in spite of their variety
of inherent difficulty. Students first should attend to word and recognize it as unknown, then
desire to know that word and engage actively in the learning process actively, and at the end
integrate both definitional and contextual information and new and known information as well.
For example, to understand the word exasperate (to make somebody very angry by repeating an
annoying behavior), learner should know what the word means, how it is used and in what
context it is used, and how it relates to what he or she already knows.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org However, the major problem is that despite the importance of vocabulary knowledge, enough
attention has not been paid to effective teaching. Furthermore, there are different strategies for
dealing with vocabulary items and one of these strategies is learning vocabulary through affixes
which enables students to better understand unknown words encountered in the future. So far,
there has been enough research about the effectiveness of learning affixes on vocabulary
learning, and there has been a considerable gap in the relationship between the number of affixes
and vocabulary learning of Iranian EFL advanced learners.
Significance of study
Vocabulary learning is important because of some reasons: First, the more vocabulary knowledge
learners have, the better they can comprehend their reading assignment. Second, learners who
have more vocabulary knowledge can achieve more academic success because words are tools,
not only of better reading, but also of better writing, speaking, listening, and thinking as well.
Third, knowing enough vocabulary can guarantee success in life as well as academic areas
(Nation, 2001). There are a lot of ways to improve our knowledge of vocabulary and one of these
ways can be having knowledge of affixes and roots which can help learners in learning unfamiliar
words.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
In order to learn and use English efficiently, learners need to expand proper learning strategies
for long-term learning. Vocabulary learning strategies are a subdivision of language learning
strategies which have attracted much attention since the late seventies. In fact it is a special
instructional tool or way to learn words directly or indirectly. According to Nation (1993),
knowledge of around 3,000 word families is needed for achieving other language skills. Without
those words, learners encounter problems understanding the language they are exposed to. Then
it can be said that vocabulary can play an important role in the development of the four skills:
speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Miller and Gildea (1987) classified word learning into two stages. A new word is identified and
assigned to a broad semantic category in the first stage, but distinctions are made within a
semantic category when it is in the second stage, and deep knowledge of word learning occurs in
this second phase of word learning. Gaining deep knowledge takes more time and is
characterized by an understanding beyond a simple definition.
Ellis (1997) holds that a predicator of learners’ discourse is vocabulary knowledge, which
patterns grammatical rules in the learners’ mind. Actually, vocabulary knowledge includes
important aspects of word knowledge as Laufer (1997) classified those important aspects of word
knowledge as:
1. Form (spoken and written)
2. Word structure (common derivations, inflections)
3. Meaning which have three features:
• referential (what non-linguistic entity in the outside world the word refers to)
• affective (connotation of a word, e.g. spinster, associated with old age, isolation ,or sadness)
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org • pragmatic (suitability of the word in a particular situation)
4. Syntactic pattern of the word in a phrase and a sentence
5. Lexical relations of the word with other words:
• synonymy (e.g. hide / conceal)
• antonymy (e.g. single / married)
• hyponymy (e.g. flower / rose)
6. Common collocations (e.g. a high probability, but a good chance)
Nation (2001) mentions that knowledge of all the vocabulary of a language is the most ambitious
goal of every language learner because even native speakers do not know all the vocabulary of
their language. He also declares that word knowledge involves knowing a variety of word
knowledge aspects; the more aspects of word knowledge we know, the more likely we will be
able to use it in the right contexts in an appropriate manner but the mastery of all kinds of word
knowledge obviously cannot be achieved simply and simultaneously. Although we have only the
vaguest idea of how some of these word knowledge types are acquired (e.g., collocation and
register), it seems obvious that certain types are learned before others. For example, Bahns and
Eldaw (1993) found that their subjects’ collocational knowledge lagged behind their general
vocabulary knowledge.
In a study Schmitt and Zimmerman (2002) found that even advanced learners who knew one
form of a word (e.g., philosophy) did not necessarily know all of the other members of the word
family (philosophize, philosophical, philosophically). Thus, learning a word must be an
incremental process; it means that the various types of word knowledge are mastered at different
rates. Then it can be said that each of the word knowledge types will be known at different
degrees of mastery at any one point in time. In addition to these different degrees of mastery,
each word knowledge type may be receptively or productively known regardless of the degree of
mastery of the others. In sum, it indicates that word learning is a complicated and difficult but
gradual process.
After recognizing vocabulary and the importance of learning and teaching vocabulary, we can
raise a simple question: What is the best way for EFL/ESL learners to develop strong vocabulary
more effectively and efficiently?
Given the important role of vocabulary knowledge in learning a foreign language, learners should
employ approaches and suitable strategies to learn vocabulary. Better comprehension takes place
when learners have more vocabulary knowledge. There are different strategies for it including
guessing, inferring or direct teaching of words. Lotto and De Groot (1998) raised the questions
which often arise in the field of vocabulary learning or other kinds of learning: What is the most
efficient and positive strategy to learn vocabulary in a new language, and what kind of words are
the most convenient ones to be learned in a new language?
Nation (2001) believes that with the help of vocabulary strategies a large amount of vocabulary
could be acquired and that the strategies prove useful for students at different levels. He stated:
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Most vocabulary learning strategies can be applied to a wide range of vocabulary and are
useful at all stages of vocabulary learning. They also allow learners to take control of
learning away from the teacher and allow the teacher to concentrate on other things.
Research shows that learners differ greatly in the skill with which they use strategies.
For these reasons, it is important to make training in strategy use a planned part of a
vocabulary development program. (p. 222)
Hunt and Beglar (2005) investigated a framework to lexical development which involves two
approaches:
1. Explicit lexical learning.
2. Implicit contextualized learning.
They previously (1998) identified three efficient strategies to improve vocabulary learning
including explicit, incidental, and independent learning.
Teaching all the vocabulary that ESL learners need in class is challenging. However, helping
EFL learners develop strong vocabularies is essential to their success, both in school and beyond.
Learners may forget many of the specific facts they learn in school, but the words they learn will
serve them as useful tools for a lifetime. To be effective, a program of teaching vocabulary
should provide students with opportunities for word learning by encouraging wide reading,
providing direct instruction of specific words and visuals, and promoting word consciousness by
using word parts through breaking up a word into understandable parts including root words,
suffixes and prefixes. Then, learning vocabulary through affixes enables students to both deepen
their present word knowledge and to better understand unknown words encountered in the future.
According to Scalise (1984), affix is a morpheme that can be attached to a word to change its
form and make a new word. It is a meaningful letter or group of word parts which change
meaning at the beginning or at the end of the word. Affix is useful for English learners who have
at least some language knowledge to enhance vocabulary domains by using this word part.
Nourie and Davidson (1992) state that affixation has been one of the most productive ways of
word building throughout the history of English. The first and main function of affixation is to
form one part of speech when added to another in Modern English, and the second function is to
change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. The process of affixation consists of
coining a new word by adding an affix or several affixes to some root morpheme. Affixation is
divided into suffixation and prefixation. In modern English, suffixation is mostly characteristic of
noun and adjective formation while prefixation is mostly typical of verb formation. In addition to
contextualization, or indirect instruction, another powerful vocabulary teaching and learning
method is structural analysis which means word parts. Word parts are basic meanings and basic
blocks used in many English words. Learning them can help ESL learners to guess and remember
new words as well as to spell words.
Studies of Bauer and Nation (1993) show that students learn easily with less effort new words
including affixes in spite of the fact that the learners are familiar with parts and then they can
guess the meaning. There are two types of knowledge of word parts and they have two positive
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org influences: one is for inferring the meaning of words in their reading words, and the other is for
remembering. They added that there are seven levels of affixes based on the following criteria:
Four important levels of them are frequency (the number of words in which the affix occurs),
regularity (as a result of affixation how much the written or spoken form of the stem or affix
changes), productivity (the likelihood of the affix being used to form a new words), and
predictability (the number and relative frequency of the different meaning of the affix).
Schmitt and McCarthy (1997, p. 277) mentioned that "knowing of how words are made up of can
help students to have at least a receptive knowledge of the words in the same family". Using
word parts can be very useful in teaching ESL learners how to attack new words constructing
solid vocabulary. Also, ESL learners can benefit from learning new vocabulary easily and from
maintaining previously learned words in memory by using word parts.
Fundamental elements are suffixes, prefixes, and roots of words which are common to many
English words. Suffixes and prefixes cannot stand on their own as words (Davoudi &Yousefi,
2009). They state that there are three important elements in etymology approach including prefix,
suffix, and root. They note:
Most of the prefixes and suffixes in modern English were derived from old English, Latin, and
Greek. They are so numerous that is impossible to list all of them. By learning strategic ones, you
take another long stride towards improving your vocabulary, combining your knowledge of roots
with knowledge of prefixes and suffixes you can analyze a surprisingly large number of words.
(pp. 17-18)
Categorizing the word in terms of syntactic roles and breaking morphologically complex words
into stems and affixes is an important step in word learning, structuring the lexicon and marking
grammatical relationships within a sentence.
Prefix
A prefix is a word beginning. It is an affix that is attached to a word at the beginning. Prefixes
play an important role in word-formation, but they do not generally change the word-class of the
base and just modify its meaning.
Graves and Hammond (1980) believed in three reasons for teaching prefixes: (1) There are
relatively few prefixes, and many of them are used in a large number of words, (2) Most prefixes
have constant meaning which is definable easily, and (3)Prefixes have relatively constant
spellings. They also used the following context and definition procedure that are transferred to
new words for teaching prefixes:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Isolate the prefix and show it and also attach it to four words (e.g., in-, inability)
Define that prefix. For example, in- means not.
Use those words in different sentences.
Define the words
Give students an opportunity to find other words exemplifying the prefix after completing and
discussing the above steps.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org f. Give students an opportunity to add examples to vocabulary notebook.
In a study, Harris and Sipay (1990) introduced four prefixes that are the most commonly used
prefixes; these prefixes are 'un-, re-, in-, and dis-' and account for about half of the common
prefixes of words in English, and there are 20 prefixes which account for nearly all prefixes of
words. The same prefixes can be seen in many different words. Generally speaking, prefixes
change words' meaning according to time, place, direction, degree, amount and negative.
Plag (2002) classified prefixes semantically into four groups: 1-There is a large group that
quantifies over their base words meaning, for example, ‘one’ (uni-, unilateral), ‘many’ (multi-,
multi-purpose). 2-There are many locative prefixes such as circum- ‘around’ (circumscribe),
counter- ‘against’ (counterbalance,). 3-There are temporal prefixes expressing notions like
‘before’ (ante-, and fore-, as in antedate, foresee), or ‘new’ (neo-, neoclassical). 4- There is a
group consisting of prefixes expressing negation (a (n)-, de-, dis-, in-, non-, un-, disagree,
unimportant). He also held that there are also numerous prefixes which do not fit into any of the
four groups and express diverse notions, such as ‘wrong, evil’ (mal-, malfunction), ‘badly,
wrongly’ (mis-, mistrial), and etc.
Ebbers and Carroll (2010) declared that prefixes mostly influence word meaning in any context.
In many words, the meaning is clearly mapped into the prefix, as in interior, exterior, posterior,
anterior, and ulterior. They added that in many cases, prefixes change the flavor, or connotation,
of the word. For example, deport is more negative than support, and super molecule is more
impressive than molecule.
Suffix
A suffix is a word ending. It is a group of letters you can add to the end of a root word. Adding
suffixes to words can change or add to their meaning, but most importantly they show how a
word will be used in a sentence and what part of speech (e.g. noun, verb, and adjective) the word
belongs to. For example, importance, freedom, childhood, creation. These are noun making
suffixes and mastering them is very important (Scalise, 1984).
Nagy, Diakidoy, and Anderson (1993) explored the development of students' knowledge of the
meaning of 10 common English suffixes. The goal of the present study is to gain a clearer picture
of students' acquisition of knowledge about what some common derivational suffixes contribute
to the meanings of derivatives. They found that students master inflectional suffixes and
compounding before derivational suffixation because of the relative abstractness of the
information conveyed in derivational suffixes. Another reason for the later acquisition of
derivational suffixes may be that such affixes are far more common in written language, or more
formal oral language, than they are in everyday conversation. In general, derivational suffixes are
associated with the more complex syntax of written language and formal discourse.
Therefore, in Plag's (2002) study, suffixation is the formation of new words by adding suffixes to
bases, unlike prefixes which mostly affect the semantic modification of the bases, their crucial
function being to change the grammatical function of the bases. Thus, suffixes should be treated
76
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org as a grammatical function of the basis, the change of the word class with a slight modification of
meaning. He classified suffixes into four important types:
1. Nominal suffixes are often employed to derive abstract nouns from verbs, adjectives and
nouns. Nouns are not easy to know well; furthermore, they are used widely. Therefore mastering
suffixes are very important.
2. Verbal suffixes: Four suffixes which derive verbs from other categories (mostly adjectives and
nouns) are -ate, -en, -ify and -ize. –ate. Forms ending in this suffix represent a rather
heterogeneous group.
3. Adjectival suffixes: A large proportion of derived adjectives are relational adjectives, whose
role is simply to relate the noun. The adjective qualifies to the base word of the derived adjective.
For example, colonial officer means ‘officer having to do with the colonies’.
4. Adverbial suffixes: Most of them are made by adding –ly to adjectives.
Ebbers and Carroll (2010) mention that students often know what a word basically means, but
they misuse it in context, perhaps because using an adjective as a noun. Derivational suffixes
drive syntax, helping us understand the grammatical function of a word. English derivations are
morphosyntactic; syntax is encoded into the suffixes.
Without a doubt, it is important to learn prefixes and suffixes well because the most common
error learners make with affixation is related to using the wrong prefix or suffix. First of all,
English often has multiple affixes with the same or similar meaning (e.g. im-, in-, un-), and it is
merely impossible to predict which one is correct. Furthermore, learners will sometimes attach an
affix to a word, and although it fits logically, the word is actually formed in a different way. For
example, although the word 'guiltiness' is correct, it will be better to use the word 'guilt' instead of
'guiltiness'.
There are many studies of English affixes because a large portion of the words coming from
Latin or Greek make use of affixes; so many studies are related to the proportion of words with
affixes in a particular corpus (White, Power & White, 1989). Also there are studies which give
the frequency of particular affixes within a corpus. They are all confirming the frequent,
widespread occurrence of derivational affixes (Nation, 2001). Many researchers emphasize the
validity of the word formation strategy uses of affix knowledge for building vocabulary (Nation,
1990; Bauer & Nation, 1993).
On the whole, it is appropriate to say that although there are a number of studies investigating the
effect of affix knowledge on vocabulary learning, there are few studies which have examined
their direct effects on vocabulary and there is no study on the effect of the number of affixes on
vocabulary learning. Thus, it is necessary to do scrutinizing research on how to use the
advantages of learning affixes on vocabulary learning and the primary focus of the present study
is on the investigation of the impacts of different numbers of affixes on vocabulary learning.
Therefore, to obtain a complete picture of vocabulary learning using affix knowledge, we need to
observe the students' performance on being given prefixes and suffixes.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org RESEARCH QUESTION AND HYPOTHESIS
Is there a significant difference in the vocabulary performance of Iranian advanced EFL learners
in terms of the number of affixes?
Research null hypothesis
There is no significant difference in the vocabulary performance of Iranian advanced EFL
learners in terms of the number of affixes.
METHODOLOGY
Participants
In the present study, a sample of 43 EFL students (male and female) in Qazvin universities was
selected. Their major was English and they were at advanced levels; the 43 advanced students
with ages among 23-34 were chosen randomly among M.A. students. The initial number of
participants was then reduced to 37 after the administration of MTELP (Michigan Test of English
Language proficiency) for advanced students. Hence, 6 students were excluded and 37 students
remained as the participants of this study.
Instruments
The instrument for determining proficiency level of advanced students was MTELP (Michigan
test of English language proficiency). It was administered to see whether or not the participants
had the same level of proficiency in English. MTELP is one of the popular tests for measuring
the ESL or EFL learners' degree of language proficiency. It consisted of 30 vocabulary items in
multiple-choice format containing 30 vocabulary items requiring selection of a synonym or
completion of a sentence (see Appendix A). This test was administered to 43 M.A. students and
out of them 37 was selected. The participants who scored between one standard deviation below
and above the mean were included in the study. Then a multiple-choice TOEFL (Test Of English
as a Foreing Language) test was administered to the advanced participants. TOEFL test is the
most widely accepted English language assessment, used for different purposes in more than 130
countries. Then, 51 questions from TOEFL exams at advanced level were chosen, consisted of 17
questions inducing root vocabulary items, 17 questions inducing single affixes vocabulary items
and 17 questions inducing double affixes vocabulary items. These questions has undergone
several major revisions and changes by professors in this major.
Procedures
To achieve the purpose of the study, the following procedures were followed.
Initially, to homogenize the participants, MTELP proficiency test was administered to the
participants. It consisted of 30 vocabulary items requiring selection of a synonym or completion
of a sentence. Then, the vocabulary comprehension subtests for advanced students were used to
measure the vocabulary knowledge of the participants. Each subtest contained 51 items, 17
questions on root words, 17 questions on single affixes and 17 questions on double affixes in
multiple-choice format.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Data analysis
The data were analyzed using descriptive statistic as well as repeated measure ANOVA to answer
the proposed research question. They were used to study the effects affixation on advanced EFL
students' performance in terms of the numbers of affixes.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The research question sought to investigate whether or not there were any significant differences
in the number of affixes on vocabulary performance of Iranian advanced EFL learners. A oneway repeated measures ANOVA procedure was used to investigate the result of the participants'
test scores. Descriptive statistics, including the mean, standard deviation, etc., are presented in
Table 1.
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for the ANOVA on vocabulary performance
Proficiency
Mean
Std. Deviation
root
Single affix
Double affix
high
Total
high
Total
high
Total
7.6486
7.6486
7.4324
7.4324
7.5135
7.5135
3.02963
3.02963
2.19267
2.19267
2.56712
2.56712
N
37
37
37
37
37
37
Table 1 indicates that the highest mean on the vocabulary test belongs to the root words followed
by the double affixes words. The single affixes words have the lowest mean. Then in order to see
whether or not the differences among the numbers of affixes are statistically significant, the one
way Repeated Measures ANOVA procedure was run. The results are given in Table 2.
Table 2: The results of the one way Repeated Measures ANOVA
Source
Type II Sum
of Squares
df
Mean
Square
F
Sig.
Partial Eta
Squared
Factor Sphericity
Assumed
.883
2
.441
.128
.880
.004
.883
1.748
.505
.128
.854
.004
Huynh-Feldt
.883
1.829
.483
.128
.863
.004
Lower-bound
.883
1.000
.883
.128
.723
.004
Greenhouse-Geisser
Based on Table 2, since the F-value is not statistically significant (F= .128, p>.05), we can safely
claim that the number of affixes has no significant difference on vocabulary learning performance
of Iranian advanced EFL learners. Thus, the null hypothesis is supported. Partial Eta Squared
shows that .004 percent of the total variance in the dependent variable is accounted for by the
independent variable.
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International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
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Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org Therefore, finding of this study showed that at advanced level the number of affixes in words
does not have a significant effect on vocabulary learning. This is the answer to the research
question; it indicates that although the learning of affixes has positive impact on vocabulary
learning, there is no main effect in terms of affixation number. Of course, this result is for
advanced level students who have more knowledge of affixes and are at the higher proficiency
level.
There are also studies which contradict the result of this study at the intermediate level and are
similar to the findings of this study at the advanced level, like Schmitt's (1997) study which
focused on the situation of Japanese EFL learners; the result of that study showed that despite the
students’ positive image of affix knowledge, many of them do not make use of it in their own
learning. Okada (2005) attributes the reason for this to the Japanese learner's small vocabulary
size and limited knowledge of affix. Furthermore, Aizawa (1998) suggests since the learners' first
language (L1) is unrelated to English; they lack sufficient affix knowledge, which makes it
difficult for them to benefit this strategy.
The findings of Tehlah and Karavi’s (2012) study are different from the results of the present
study regarding vocabulary learning. They showed that explicit affixation instruction not only
can help students improve their English vocabulary learning, but it also enhances learners'
satisfaction on English vocabulary development.
The observed discrepancy between the findings of the present study and those of the abovementioned studies could be partially related to a number of factors. One of the reasons may be
participants’ level of language proficiency. Another reason could be attributed to the
participants’ background knowledge. Moreover, most of the above-mentioned studies were
conducted on EFL learners with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Chang (2007)
maintains that culture is a part of language and has an important impact on reading
comprehension. . According to Smith (2005), researchers have long identified the increasing
impact of cross-cultural parameters on the process of vocabulary learning. The findings of
Chang’s (2007) study confirmed that cross-cultural differences may produce different results in a
study with ESL learners in comparison with EFL learners.
Therefore, the effect of the number of affixes on vocabulary learning of Iranian advanced EFL
learners turned out to be insignificant. This is corroborated by studies such as Goh and Foong
(1997), and Yang (2007) which accentuate the role of proficiency in using language learning
strategies and indicate that more proficient students use some or all strategies more than less
proficient students and that language proficiency affects students' use as well as selection of
language learning strategies.
CONCLUSION
English is a language which is the most complex of all the European languages because of its
mongrel mixture of Greek, Latin, French and Germanic roots (Frost, 2005; Seymour, 2005).
Because of this, one of the greatest tools any reader, beginner or advanced, can have is to master
80
International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World
(IJLLALW)
Volume 5 (3), March 2014; 70-­‐83 Mousavi, S., & Taghi Hasani, M ISSN (online): 2289-­‐2737 & ISSN (print): 2289-­‐3245 www.ijllalw.org and memorize a large number of root words, prefixes and suffixes. Root words are where many
of our common English words originate from and these are recognizable as the origin of other
words. Prefixes and suffixes are two kinds of affixes which help to form longer words but are not
words in themselves.
The learning of English vocabulary is the basis of language learning, just as the root for an
edifice. Affixation, as one of the most essential and effective ways of word-formation, provides
us with a good perspective to enlarge vocabulary. Hence, mastering the formation rules of
affixation is indispensable to enlarge vocabulary easily, productively and effectively, and also
learners are not supposed to learn English words only by rote but sum up some learning skills.
Then, affixation is such a useful way.
As the results reveal, the level of students has a significant effect on students' performance.
Although both intermediate and advanced students had the same test based on their levels, in
intermediate level, which students are not more aware with single affix and double affixes, their
performance are weak and the more the number of affixes the less learners are successful. While
advanced students are more aware of affixes and number of affixes in words, their vocabulary
performance has no difference in words which are made up of root, single affix and double
affixes. Thus, tentatively it can be said that the explicit instruction of affixation in terms of the
number of affixes can be regarded as an effective method for students who are lack of English
vocabulary knowledge. It is an appropriate method helps learners improve their English
vocabulary development.
This study focused on word formation strategy which is narrowed by examining the effect of the
structure of word on students' vocabulary learning. Word form strategy is one of the important
factors in language learning and teaching. Using word formation instruction in general and
affixation in particular and paying attention to the effect of affixation on vocabulary learning in
terms of the number of affixes can have notable and positive outcomes. By applying affix
instruction in English classrooms, teachers can create a creative situation for teaching and keep
learners interested and motivated for learning vocabulary. Students also can have a better
understanding of new words. In addition, teachers can find new and better ways of teaching to
introduce strategies students do not know and create opportunities to encourage students to be
more autonomous.
Limitations of the study
This research suffers from certain limitations which have to be taken into consideration:
1.
Finding enough participants was a challenge.
2.
Some participants cooperated imperfectly.
3.
Aspects such as participants' interests, language background and some other factors
influence the findings of the study and caution should be taken into consideration in generalizing
the results.
4.
The number of words selected to be worked on was limited because of practicality
deliberations. So, care must be exercised in generalizing the finding beyond their proper limits.
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