Academic listening: A source of vocabulary acquisition?

This paper presents an empirical study of the acquisition of EFL vocabulary through academic listening. A review of the L1 and L2 literature on vocabulary learning through aural input reveals a gap in this field and the need for further research. The present study also explored the effect of EFL proficiency and lecture comprehension on vocabulary acquisition as well as the relationship between vocabulary gain and the following factors: frequency of occurrence, type of word, type of word elaboration and predictability from word form and parts. The effect of lecture listening on vocabulary acquisition as well as the interaction effect between EFL proficiency and vocabulary acquisition were found to be significant. A significant difference was also found between lecture listening and post-lecture listening and between post-lecture listening and the pre-test, indicating that, although only part of the vocabulary gain was retained in the memory after four weeks, the vocabulary knowledge retained was still superior to the knowledge the students had before listening to the lectures. Predictability from word form and parts was found to be the best predictor of vocabulary gain, followed by, in this order, word type, type of elaboration, and finally frequency of occurrence.