Po a Lingua um 28, junio 2017 141-155
A e We P epa ing Seconda y S uden s o a
P oduc i e Use o Vocabula y in English as Thei
Second Language?
Dama is Cas o ga Cía
Uni e sidad Nacional, Cos a Rica
Recei ed: 8 Ap il 2017/ Accep ed: 17 May 2017
ISSN: 1698-7467
ABSTRACT: This s udy examines he p oduc i e ocabula y p o iles o Cos a Rican high
school s uden s s udying EFL unde wo di e en me hodologies, Con en Based Teaching
(CBT) and Fo eign Language Teaching (FLT). Following Lau e and Na ion’s (1999) idea o
“con olled p oduc i e abili y,” he pa icipan s we e es ed using he P oduc i e Vocabula y
Le els Tes (PVLT). S a is ically signi ican di e ences a o CBT s uden s. A e examin-
ing gende di e ences, he e idence also sugges s ha CBT could ha e a bene icial e ec on
s uden s lea ning o he i s 2,000 wo ds o English, pa icula ly o male s uden s. Nei he
g oup, howe e , has ully mas e ed his wo d band ye .
Keywo ds: PVLT, seconda y, Cos a Rica, p oduc i e ocabula y.
¿Es amos p epa ando a los es udian es de secunda ia pa a un uso p oduc i o de oca-
bula io en inglés como su segunda lengua?
RESUMEN: Es e es udio desc ibe ca ac e ís icas del ocabula io p oduc i o de es udian es
de secunda ia cos a icenses quienes es udian según las modalidades de Enseñanza po Con-
enidos o Enseñanza de Inglés como Lengua Ex anje a. Siguiendo la idea de “habilidad p o-
duc i a con olada” (Lau e y Na ion (1999)), los es udian es ealiza on la P ueba de Ni el
de Vocabula io P oduc i o. Los esul ados mues an di e encias es adís icas signi ica i as
a a o de los es udian es según el mé odo de Enseñanza po Con enidos an o en elación
a ni eles o ales de palab as como en cuan o a géne o (pa icula men e pa a los homb es).
Sin emba go, ninguno de los dos g upos domina comple amen e es e ni el de ocabula io.
Palab as cla e: PVLT, secunda ia, Cos a Rica, ocabula io p oduc i o.
1. InTRoduCTIon
The s udy o ocabula y in second language lea ning has ecen ly ecei ed an upswing
in a en ion om esea che s and o he specialis s. In he las wen y yea s, an inc easing
numbe o s udies on he ield ha e su aced (i.e., Na ion (1983, 1990, 2006 a, b), Lau e
(1998), Read (2000), Schmi (2010)). Lau e and Na ion (1999:33-34) acknowledged his
upsu ge o ocabula y s udies: “This inc eased in e es can be in e p e ed o mean ha he e
is conside able alue in gaining knowledge abou speci ic pa s o language lea ne s’ p o-
iciency because i can be used e ec i ely o diagnos ic, placemen and cu iculum-design
pu poses.” Se e al o he easons ha e been men ioned abou he impo ance o ocabula y
s udies. Na ion (1993) insis s ha an ex ensi e ocabula y is c i ical o s uden s o use
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language skill ully and o hem o ob ain he knowledge ha de i es om his use. This
shows he impo ance o ocabula y de elopmen as a basis o he p ope p og ession o
language skills, in pa icula , and cogni i e de elopmen in gene al. Fo Read (2000:14),
“ ocabula y is no jus a se o linguis ic uni s bu also an a ibu e o indi idual language
lea ne s, in he o m o ocabula y knowledge and he abili y o access ha knowledge o
communica i e pu poses.” F om his, we can ga he ha ocabula y no longe s ands as a
sepa a e componen o language a ibu es, bu a he i is acknowledged as a co ne s one
o building and de eloping language capaci ies ins ead.
Time has p og essi ely len a mo e p ominen ole o ocabula y han i enjoyed
p e iously. Schmi (2010), o example, also poin s o he s ong link exis ing be ween
ocabula y and language skills. Along hese lines, Coombe (2011) s a es ha ocabula y has
gained impo ance as a skill on i s own a he han unc ioning as an aid o he ou main
language skills. This new pe spec i e on ocabula y has g an ed i he dese ed a en ion
ha has esul ed in mo e in-dep h s udies on he ield.
Seminal wo k by Na ion (1983, 1990) has se ed as a guide o ocabula y s udies. O
pa icula signi icance o his pape is his de e mina ion in es ablishing ocabula y measu es
o eaching p ac ices and p og am designs and his con ibu ion o he de elopmen o he
Vocabula y Le els Tes (VLT), as desc ibed in Na ion (1983, 1990) and Schmi e al. (2001),
and he subsequen P oduc i e Vocabula y Le els Tes (PVLT), as discussed in Lau e &
Na ion (1999). Bo h e sions include a se o es s di ided in o wo d bands acco ding o
he equency o occu ence o wo ds in he language: 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 Academic Wo d
Lis (AWL), and 10,000 wo d bands.
In Na ion’s wo d bands, he i s 2,000 wo d lis is made up o ‘high equency ocab-
ula y’ (Na ion & Hwang, 1995), and hese a e he wo ds ha s uden s should aim o lea n
i s . Na ion and Chung (2009), as well as Lau e & Na ion (1999), discuss he impo ance
o lea ning ocabula y acco ding o i s equency and hey insis on gi ing special a en ion
o he i s 2,000 wo ds, no only because hese ep esen 80 o 90% o unning wo ds in
ex s bu also because knowing hem allows lea ne s o eap g ea e bene i s. The 2,000
wo d band has also been iden i ied as he di iding line be ween high and low equency
ocabula y (Lau e & Na ion, 1999).
Na ion (2006a) a gues ha he i s 2,000 wo ds o English ep esen he basic wo ds o
he language, and many a e unc ion wo ds. Read (1988) also no es ha he mos equen
wo ds in a language a e he i s o be lea ned by s uden s, and ha any knowledge o ocab-
ula y pe aining o uppe ocabula y le els will mean, by de aul , ha s uden s know he
p eceding ocabula y le els. Fo Read, and o Schmi e al. (2001), ocabula y knowledge
g ows p og essi ely om he simple, mos equen wo ds owa ds he leas equen , mo e
specialized wo ds. Mo eo e , Webb and Na ion (2011) poin o how a dis inc ion be ween
di e en le els o p o iciency can be a ained h ough ocabula y measu es. In ha ein,
his in es iga ion aims o de e mine how many o hose 2,000 key wo ds a e known by he
pa icipa ing s uden s.
In sum, he abo e in o ma ion sugges s— ollowing Read (2000:1)— ha wo ds can be
conside ed “ he basic building blocks o language, he uni s o meaning om which la ge
s uc u es such as sen ences, pa ag aphs, and whole ex s a e o med.” Wha in e es s us
he e is o de e mine how solid hese building blocks a e o he pa icipan s in he p esen
s udy, speci ically conce ning hei p oduc i e ocabula y. This, in u n, can p o ide us
wi h in o ma ion abou wha is cu en ly happening a seconda y schools like hose in he
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sample. Acco ding o Na ion (2006b), knowledge o a wo d en ails knowing aspec s o i s
‘ o m, meaning, and use’; h ough he PVLT, a con olled-p oduc i e ac i i y, we a emp o
de e mine he lea ne s’ po en ial use o hese wo ds in communica i e con ex s. Finally, we
assume he e he no ion p esen ed by Hea on (1990) ega ding ac i e o p oduc i e ocabula y
as ha which s uden s ough o use. The PVLT will equi e s uden s o use he wo ds hey
know o comple e meaning ul ideas in con ex .
2. PRoduCTI e oCABulARy
The ul ima e in en ion o lea ning a language is o use ha language o communica ion.
To achie e ha in an L2, lea ne s equi e enough ocabula y o con ey he meaning hey wish
o exp ess. The numbe o wo ds in ou ocabula y, lea ned du ing he SLA p ocess, would
(ideally) inc ease g adually. Lau e (1998) commen s ha despi e e idence o ocabula y
g ow h in L2 lea ne s, he numbe s a e adically lowe when compa ed o na i e speake s’
wo d coun s. Mo eo e , Lau e (1998) insis s ha wo d knowledge ad ances om shallow
o deep as s uden s’ lea ning p og esses. This p ocess akes ime and e o and de elops
di e en ly o di e en indi iduals unde di e en condi ions. P oduc i e ocabula y has
p o en o be undamen al since ea ly ages.
Vagh e al. (2009), o example, p o ide e idence o as e g owing, highe -quan i y,
p oduc i e ocabula y in monolingual a he han bilingual child en up o 36 mon hs old.
This shows how speci ic condi ions may a ec p oduc i e ocabula y de elopmen and also
calls o conside a ion o he consequences o hese di e ences. Likewise, Bleses e al. (2016)
p o ide u he a ionale on how child en’s ea ly p oduc i e ocabula y measu es can p edic
u u e educa ional ou comes in decoding and eading comp ehension abili ies. They es ablish
a link be ween ea ly ocabula y measu es and language de elopmen , and make a meaning ul
associa ion be ween language and li e acy (also p esen , o a lesse ex en , o ma hema ical
skills). Bleses e al. (2016) p opose using o al skills, o which ocabula y plays a key ole,
as a s ong basis o eading. These s udies signal he long- e m signi icance and impac
o ocabula y on he educa ional u u e o monolingual and bilingual s uden s. They a e
addi ional easons o jus i y he need o addi ional p oduc i e ocabula y esea ch. These
indings om younge lea ne s also ex end o lea ne s o o he age g oups.
In SLA s udies, Lau e (1998:256) acknowledges ha he p ocess o ocabula y lea n-
ing mo es om ecep i e o p oduc i e expe ise and ha ecep i e ocabula y becomes
la ge . Any language lea ne would ag ee ha bo h ypes a e, indeed, essen ial du ing he
lea ning p ocess. By es ablishing he size o ocabula y ( ecep i e and p oduc i e), eache s
and p og am designe s can ace he p og ess o s uden s in any gi en language p og am.
Lau e and Na ion (1999:33) insis on he impo ance o de e mining lea ne s’ ocabula y
knowledge o design he ocabula y componen o eaching p og ams. As seen abo e, mos
s udies on ocabula y measu es ha e been guided and de eloped in connec ion o Paul Na-
ion’s (1983, 1990) and Schmi e al.’s (2001) VLT, as well as Lau e and Na ion’s (1999)
subsequen PVLT. The la e is no ound in academic esea ch s udies as equen ly as he
o me . The same occu s wi h p oduc i e ocabula y, which has been esea ched less han
ecep i e ocabula y. Thus, he impo ance o s udies such as his one.
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Lau e and Na ion (1999:36) insis ha he abili y o p oduce ocabula y “implies de-
g ees o knowledge” and claim ha s uden s can use ocabula y o ms in some educa ional
si ua ions (i.e., when equi ed by he eache ) and no in o he s (i.e., ee w i ing). Lau e
and Na ion (1999:37) es ablish a dis inc ion be ween “ he abili y o use a wo d a one’s ee
will as ‘ ee p oduc i e abili y’ [and] ‘con olled p oduc i e abili y’ o he abili y o use a
wo d when compelled o do so by a eache o esea che .” The PVLT measu es he la e .
Con olled p oduc i e abili y is o pa icula impo ance because we can p edic (gi en he
idea o p og essi e deg ees o knowledge) ha s uden s should be able o use ocabula y
in hese con olled se ings be o e hey can ac ually use i in ac i i ies wi h a ee con ex
equi ing deepe ocabula y knowledge such as w i ing.
Table 1 summa izes he only s udies he au ho o he p esen pape has ound on p o-
duc i e ocabula y measu es whe e he PVLT has been used. Fou di e en e e ence g oups
a e shown; he i s wo come om Lau e (1998). They a e p esen ed he e sepa a ely wi h
he es pe o mance, hou s o ins uc ion and age. Fo he i s wo g oups, Heb ew is he
L1 and o he second wo g oups Spanish is hei L1. All g oups a e s udying English as
a Second Language. Two impo an di e ences a e obse ed: he numbe o wo ds o he
Is aeli s uden s is o e double ha o he Spanish s uden s and some di e ence in ound
in hou s o ins uc ion.
Table 1. P e ious S udies
S udy Pa icipan s Hou s o Ins uc ion Vocabula y Size
Lau e (1998) Is aeli, high school, 16
yea s old
1,080 1,700 wo ds
Lau e (1998) Is aeli, high school, 17
yea s old
1,260 2,550 wo ds
Mo eno Espinoza (2010a)
in Canga Alonso & A i-
bas Ga cía (2014)
Spanish, high school
(age no epo ed)
No epo ed 645 wo ds
Canga Alonso & A ibas
Ga cía (2014)
Spanish, high school,
15-16 yea s old
1,049 644 wo ds
2.1. SLA, P oduc i e Vocabula y and Gende
SLA s udies dealing wi h gende and ocabula y a e sca ce. They could be classi ied in o
h ee g oups. The i s includes hose ha look a gende wi h ela ion o di e en aspec s o
SLA. Sunde land (2010) has acknowledged, “In SLA […] sex (usually ende ed ‘poli ely’ as
gende ) as an independen a iable has been in es iga ed less han o he po en ially ele an
a iables.” S udies such as hose o Agus ín Llach (2010), whose ins umen was a com-
posi ion; Fe nández Fon echa (2010), who used a lexical a ailabili y es ; Jiménez Ca alán
(2010), who used wo wo d es s, a composi ion and a cue wo d es ; and Mo eno Espinoza
(2010b), who used a wo d associa ion es , ha e explo ed a ious ea u es o p oduc i e
ocabula y in connec ion o gende . They concen a e on se e al aspec s o ocabula y and
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a e men ioned he e o p o ide access o gende - ela ed in o ma ion and p oduc i e ocabula y
in a b oade sense, no in e e ence o PVLT. These s udies p esen mixed esul s as no clea
endencies a e iden i ied. Agus ín Llach (2010), explo ing lexical c ea ions in ea ly second-
a y educa ion, ound no signi ican gende di e ences in s uden s’ lexical c ea ions (despi e
inding emales supe io in wo ds-pe -composi ion p oduc ion). Fe nández Fon echa (2010)
s udied ‘gende and mo i a ion’ o p oduc i e ocabula y and ound ha emale s uden s
s a is ically ou pe o med hei male coun e pa s in bo h a iables. Jiménez Ca alán (2010)
de e mined signi ican di e ences a o ing emale s uden s in a composi ion and a cue-wo d
p oduc i e es . In addi ion, Mo eno Espinoza (2010b) epo s no s a is ically signi ican
gende di e ence in es s o wo d associa ion.
A second g oup o s udies aims o es ablish gende di e ences ha can be explained
in connec ion wi h eaching con ex s, associa ed wi h aspec s such as mo i a ion. Fe nández
Fon echa and Canga Alonso (2014) in a s udy on gende and mo i a ion be ween CLIL and
non-CLIL s uden s ound non-CLIL se ings o be signi ican ly mo e mo i a ing o s uden s
o bo h gende s, while male s uden s in CLIL se ings a e mo e mo i a ed han hei emale
coun e pa s. He as and Lasagabas e (2015) epo a di e ence in mo i a ion be ween CLIL
and non-CLIL se ings. These au ho s in hei s udy on gende , ocabula y and mo i a ion
ound ha emale s uden s exhibi g ea e mo i a ion han male s uden s in ce ain aspec s
o mo i a ion, al hough no o a signi ican deg ee. The same happens in e ms o ocabu-
la y, whe e emale s uden s also show nume ical ad an ages in e ms o ocabula y esul s
bu hese a e no s a is ically signi ican a he end. These wo e e ences help illus a e he
cu en con as ing si ua ion be ween CLIL and non-CLIL se ings. Al hough Con en Based
Teaching is no seen as a CLIL p ac ice o some au ho s (Lasagabas e and Sie a (2010),
Dal on-Pu e and Smi (2013)), o he s conside CBT a o m o CLIL (Ruiz de Za obe
(2010)). The esul s o his s udy will also con ibu e o o e mo e in o ma ion ega ding
he di e en ou comes o hese se ings.
In a hi d g oup o s udies, we may include hose co e ing gende di e ences in con-
nec ion o he VLT and he PVLT. Rega ding gende di e ences in p oduc i e ocabula y
es s (and in PVLT in pa icula ), he sca ci y o s udies is e iden . F om he esea ch men-
ioned abo e, Canga Alonso and A ibas Ga cía (2014:47) epo a mean o 636 wo ds o
male s uden s and 661 o emales. Despi e ini ial di e ences, Canga Alonso and A ibas
Ga cía (2014) conclude ha no s a is ically signi ican di e ences p e ail. No gende - ela ed
in o ma ion was ob ained om he o he s udies men ioned in Table 1.
As Fe nández Fon echa (2010:105) pu s i : “[w]he he suppo ed by e idence o me ely
d i en by unin o med s e eo ypical opinion, languages ha e been adi ionally labeled as
a emale subjec .” While some s udies p esen ed abo e suppo his idea, o he s do no .
Sunde land (2010) c edi s he equen ly men ioned mixed esul s o aspec s such as age,
language le el, class oom-se ing ac i i ies and indi idual con ex s. She inds i ‘unsu p ising’
ha all hose ea u es ende hese mixed esul s. All in all, he sca ci y o s udies desc ib-
ing p oduc i e ocabula y size and gende is e iden . The p esen pape aims o con ibu e
in o ma ion o academic esea ch on bo h o hese ields.

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3. The PReSenT STudy
3.1. Resea ch Ques ions
This s udy a emp s o p o ide answe s o he ollowing ques ions:
1. Wha is he p oduc i e ocabula y p o ile o s uden s in wo Cos a Rican high
schools?
2. Is he e a signi ican di e ence be ween he es sco es om he school ha ollows
Con en Based Ins uc ion and he one ha ollows EFL me hodology?
3. Is he e a signi ican di e ence be ween he es sco es o he gende a iable a
hese schools?
3.2. Pa icipan s
The subjec s a e a o al o 180 i h-yea , seconda y s uden s, lea ne s o English as a
o eign language in wo high schools in He edia, Cos a Rica (in Cen al Ame ica). The e
a e 96 gi ls and 84 boys; 53 o hese s uden s a end a school whe e Con en Based (CB)
eaching is implemen ed (20 boys, 33 gi ls), and 127 s udy a a school whe e hey ake
English as a compulso y cou se, in a egula , mains eam Fo eign Language (FL) se ing
(64 boys and 63 gi ls). The a e age age o he s uden s is 16.3 yea s o he CB school and
16.5 yea s o he Fo eign Language s uden s. The sample is homogenous in e ms o L1,
age and social p o ile o he a ea whe e he schools a e loca ed. Spanish is he i s language
o all he s uden s. Bo h g oups also li e in he same geog aphic a ea, ( he cen al zone o
he p o ince o He edia) and ollow he same na ional language policy o language cou ses.
The CB school adds 3 hou s a week in one subjec -cou se ha a ies om one le el o he
nex : Ecology, Social S udies, Biology, in 7 h, 8 h, 9 h yea espec i ely. The CB school s u-
den s ha e ecei ed app oxima ely 1,368 hou s, and he mains eam s uden s app oxima ely
1,140 hou s. While he FL school is semip i a e and he CB school is p i a e, bo h g oups
enjoy a school en i onmen whe e English lea ning ecei es s ong suppo , e iden h ough
p esence o in e na ional s uden s, in e na ional ield ips, and he possibili y o pa icipa ing
in clubs and p ojec s equi ing English. None o he membe s o he g oups in ei he school
had special educa ion needs.
Fo he sake o cla i y, he ollowing de ini ions should be kep in mind in ela ion o
wha Con en Based Teaching and Fo eign Language Teaching en ail. Bake (2011:217–218)
de ines Fo eign Language Teaching as an educa ional sys em in which “mos language ma-
jo i y school child en ake hei educa ion h ough hei home language…Second ( o eign)
language lessons o a ound hal an hou pe day may cons i u e he sole ‘o he ’ language
die .” This explana ion will desc ibe, hence o h, ‘Fo eign Language (FL) school’ in he con-
ex unde s udy. As o Con en Based Teaching, Dupuy (2000:212) de ines i as “ eaching
a con en a ea in he a ge language whe ein s uden s acqui e bo h language and subjec
ma e knowledge.” This is he case o CB s uden s in he p esen analysis.
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3.3. Ins umen
The P oduc i e Vocabula y Le els Tes (PVLT) (Lau e & Na ion 1999) is used o
de e mine he ‘con olled p oduc i e ocabula y’ o he pa icipan s; pa icula ly, he pa allel
e sion 1 (Ve sion C) o he PVLT-2,000 band. The es consis s o 18 i ems whe e s uden s
ha e o comple e a wo d ha i s he con ex o a gi en sen ence. A numbe o le e s a e
p o ided in each case wi h he idea o igge ing he a ge wo d. Fo Lau e and Na ion
(1999), his p o ision o le e s se es a wo- old pu pose. Fi s , i p o ides as many le e s
as a e equi ed o disambigua e he cue, hus elimina ing o he possible al e na i es; second,
i has he in en ion o p e en ing lea ne s om p o iding wo ds om a di e en equency
band. This es has been ound o be eliable, alid and e y p ac ical o implemen (Lau e
& Na ion, 1999:44).
Sample: 1. I’m glad we had his opp__________ o alk.
3.4. P ocedu e
Da a we e collec ed in one session pe g oup in each school, du ing he English class
in all six sub-g oups ( wo g oups om he CB school and ou g oups in FL school). A
he beginning o he PVLT, bo h Spanish o al and w i en ins uc ions we e gi en o explain
wha he s uden s we e being asked o do. A sample sen ence was also p o ided. S uden s
we e allowed 15 minu es o comple e he PVLT. Rega dless o he ins i u ional se ing, some
s uden s comple ed he es in less han 15 minu es while o he s needed he ull 15 min.
3.5. Da a Analysis
Following Lau e and Na ion (1999), he answe s we e checked based on seman ic co -
ec ness. This means ha hey we e g aded as co ec o inco ec , and ha mino spelling
mis akes (i.e., “lo ley” ins ead o “lo ely”) and g amma ical mis akes (i.e., “in oduce” ins ead
o “in oduced”) we e igno ed. Desc ip i e s a is ics we e calcula ed and di e ences be ween
schools and gende g oups we e compa ed by using SPSS Ve sion 20 (IBM Co p, 2011).
Du ing he analysis o he da a, a C onbach’s alpha eliabili y es was un and i epo ed
in e nal consis ency o .75 o he CB school and .85 o he FL school.
3.6. Resul s
3.6.1. Resul s o wo d coun s in he PVLT
Table 2 p esen s he esul s o co ec i ems and o al wo d coun s. Following Na ion’s
(1990:78) o mula, “Vocabula y size = N co ec answe s mul iplied by he N wo ds in dic-
iona y ( he ele an wo d lis ) di ided by N i ems in he es ,” a ela ion was es ablished
be ween he numbe o i ems (maximum 18) and he o al numbe o wo ds ha hese
ep esen in he 2,000 wo d band. Fo he o al o 18 i ems, he CB school eaches a mean
o 13.19 while he FL school mean is 9.30. Al hough in bo h schools s uden s each he
maximum possible; he minimum o he CB school is 8 whe eas o he FL school i is
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ze o. This di e ence is also e lec ed in a much wide sp ead exp essed in he SD o 4.284
o he FL school as opposed o 2.836 o he CB school.
Table 2. Desc ip i e s a is ics o i em and wo d es ima es
PVLT 2,000 (n = 182 (53 CBT, 127 FLT))
I em coun in o ma ion To al wo d coun in o ma ion
CB School FL School CB school FL school
Numbe o i ems 18 18 2,000 2,000
Mean 13.19 9.30 1,467.33 1,046.80
Max 18 18 2,000 2,000
Min 8 0 889 0
SD 2.836 4.284 312.075 477.644
Rega ding o al wo d coun s, he mean is 1,467.33 wo ds o he CB and 1,046.80 o
he FL school. This shows ha s uden s in bo h schools each a maximum o 2,000 wo ds.
The minimum, howe e , is clea ly di e en : i s ands a 889 wo ds o he CB school and
ze o o he FL school. In an analysis o dis ibu ion, he equency o dis ibu ion o he
CB school p esen s wo clea ly sepa a e wo d-le el size g oups. The i s g oup o lea ne s
in he lowe le els anges om 800 o 1,400 wo ds wi h a peak be ween he 1,200 and
1,400 wo ds; hen he da a p esen a ma ked hal . The second clus e o lea ne s’ ocabula y
size g ows om he 1,600 wo d le el wi h he highes peak a he 1,700 o 1,800 wo d
ange. I hen slopes down o he 2,000 wo d ange. The dis ibu ion o he FL school
appea s mo e e enly dispe sed. The wo d sizes s eadily g ow om ze o o he highes peak
o 1,000 wo ds; hey hen descend o 2,000 wo ds. Addi ional possibili ies o in e p e a ion
exis , such as elimina ing he ze o g ades conside ing hem as ou lie s (as sugges ed by an
anonymous e iewe ). A his poin , all esul s a e included o o e a mo e comple e pic u e
o he indings.
To de e mine no mali y assump ions in ou da a, wi h he pu pose o de ining he na u e
o he di e ences be ween he esul s o bo h schools in he PVLT, he Kolmogo o -Smi no
es was used. I con i ms ha he da a ollow a non-no mal dis ibu ion o he CB school
(p = .001), while he FL school da a ollow a no mal dis ibu ion (p = .200). The U Mann
Whi ney es was hen implemen ed o de e mine di e ences be ween he wo school g oups
and he p alue (.000) shows ha he e a e signi ican di e ences a o ing he CB school.
The es shows a mean ank o 124.38 o he CB school and 77.33 o he FL school.
3.6.2. Resul s in ela ion o gende
Acco ding o Table 3, he da a in his sample popula ion show e idence ha he o e all
p oduc i e ocabula y o male s uden s is highe han ha o gi ls in bo h schools; e en i
only sligh ly highe o he FL school. Bo h male and emale s uden s achie e he maximum
wo d sco es in he CB school, whe eas only boys each ha numbe in he FL school. The
sp ead in dis ibu ion shows a wide ange o dis ibu ion o gi ls in he CB school, while
his is much wide o boys in he FL school. In gene al, o e all p oduc i e ocabula y
measu es a e highe o bo h male and emale s uden s in he CB school.
Dama is Cas o ga Cía A e We P epa ing Seconda y S uden s o a P oduc i e Use o ...
149
Table 3. Desc ip i e s a is ics o gende and PVLT
CB school FL school
Male (N=20) Female (N=33) Male (N=64) Female (N=63)
To al wo ds 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000
Mean 1,592.52 1,387.67 1,091.97 1,001.63
SD 286.336 305.336 515.293 436.160
Max 2,000 2,000 2,000 1,888
Min 1,000 889 0 111
In gene al, i could be concluded ha he beha io , in e ms o ocabula y ou comes, is
qui e di e en o each educa ional ins i u ion. While ocabula y coun s seem o exhibi e y
simila beha io o bo h gende s in he FL school, he di e ences be ween gende g oups
in he CB school a e e iden . A Kolmogo o -Smi no es was used on he da a o es ablish
no mali y assump ions o each gende g oup in each school. The es de e mines ha he
da a o he CB school ollows a non-no mal dis ibu ion (masculine, p = .000; eminine,
p = .010) while he da a o he FL school ollows a no mal dis ibu ion (masculine, p =
.200; eminine, p = .200). This calls o di e en s a is ical es s o explain he quali y o he
di e ences in each se o da a. Gi en ha he da a o he CB school ollow a non-no mal
dis ibu ion, he U Mann Whi ney es was applied. The es shows a mean ank o 34.05
ha a o s male s uden s and a mean ank o 23.33 o emale s uden s. I , hus, con i ms
ha he dis ibu ion is no he same o he wo gende s and shows s a is ically signi ican
esul s ha a o male s uden s in he PVLT in CB school wi h a p alue o .014.
Since he FL school da a ollow a no mal dis ibu ion, he Independen sample - es is
used o de e mine he na u e o hose di e ences. The es shows ha he e a e no signi ican
di e ences be ween male and emale s uden s in his sample popula ion o he FL school.
The male s uden g oup (N = 64) ob ained p oduc i e ocabula y le el sco es wi h a mean
o 54.66 (SD 25.354), and emale sub-sample, wi h a mean o 50.13 (SD 21.811). The esul s
o he independen samples - es a e associa ed wi h a s a is ically non-signi ican e ec :
(126) = 1.084, p = .280. This means ha he nume ical di e ences obse ed in he da a do
no ansla e in o s a is ically signi ican di e ences o he gende a iable a his school.
Addi ional es s we e un, his ime o compa e gende esul s a in e -school le el. As
men ioned abo e, acco ding o he Kolmogo o -Smi no es , he dis ibu ion o he male
CB school s uden s ollows a non-no mal dis ibu ion (p = .000) while he FL male s u-
den s’ dis ibu ion ollows a no mal dis ibu ion (p = .200). Fu he examina ion using a U
Mann-Whi ney es shows ha he nume ically appa en di e ences be ween male s uden s’
sco es a e in ac s a is ically signi ican wi h a p alue o .000 in a o o he CB male
s uden s. Fo he emale s uden s, he Kolmogo o -Smi no es desc ibed he CB emale
dis ibu ion as non-no mal (p = .010), whe eas he FL emale s uden g oup dis ibu ion was
de e mined as no mal (p = .200). The U Mann-Whi ney es was implemen ed once mo e
o de e mine he cha ac e is ics o he di e ences o o al wo d coun s in he PVLT o he
emale gende ac oss schools. Acco ding o his es , s a is ically signi ican di e ences (p
= .000) a o CB emale s uden s, when we compa e he wo schools in he s udy sample.