The opaque English orthography complicates learning to read, as irregular words, such as the word pint, cannot be Addread accurately by decoding. Studies with first language (L1) English children show that vocabulary facilitates word reading, especially in the case of irregular words. It is unclear whether this influence of vocabulary extends to children learning to read English as a foreign language (EFL). When learning EFL, words are often encountered in print first, potentially making orthographic knowledge especially important. Orthographic knowledge might partially account for the effect of vocabulary on irregular word reading. In this study, 455 Dutch students in their first year of formal English education (11–13 years, Grade 7) were followed. Their English vocabulary, orthographic knowledge, and irregular, regular and pseudoword reading skills were assessed in fall and spring. Commonality analyses showed that vocabulary contributed more to irregular than to regular or pseudoword reading, even when controlling for orthographic knowledge. Additionally, orthographic knowledge was related to irregular word reading concurrently, independent of vocabulary. Longitudinal analyses showed that vocabulary and orthographic knowledge also had independent effects on the development of irregular word reading, but not on regular or pseudoword reading. Overall, the predictors for EFL word reading were in line with previous L1 findings. Both EFL and L1 learners use vocabulary and orthographic knowledge to read irregular words. This suggests that the relationship between vocabulary and word reading is related to aspects of the English orthography itself. To enable EFL learners to read irregular words, it is important to teach the other constituents of word knowledge, that is, vocabulary and orthography.

中文翻译：

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词汇在英语作为外语阅读发展中的独特贡献

不透明的英语正字法使阅读学习变得复杂，因为不规则的单词，例如单词pint, 不能通过解码准确的Addread。对第一语言 (L1) 英语儿童的研究表明，词汇有助于阅读单词，尤其是在不规则单词的情况下。目前尚不清楚词汇的这种影响是否会扩展到学习将英语作为外语 (EFL) 阅读的儿童。在学习 EFL 时，单词通常首先出现在印刷品中，这可能使拼写知识变得尤为重要。拼写知识可能部分解释了词汇对不规则单词阅读的影响。在这项研究中，对接受正规英语教育第一年（11-13 岁，7 年级）的 455 名荷兰学生进行了随访。他们的英语词汇、正字法知识以及不规则、规则和伪词阅读技能在秋季和春季进行了评估。共性分析表明，即使在控制拼写知识的情况下，词汇对不规则阅读的贡献比对规则或伪词阅读的贡献更大。此外，拼字知识与不规则的单词同时阅读有关，与词汇无关。纵向分析表明，词汇和拼写知识也对不规则单词阅读的发展，但不是规则或伪单词阅读。总体而言，EFL 单词阅读的预测因子与之前的 L1 发现一致。EFL 和 L1 学习者都使用词汇和拼写知识来阅读不规则单词。这表明词汇和单词阅读之间的关系与英语正字法本身有关。为了让 EFL 学习者能够阅读不规则的单词，重要的是教授单词知识的其他组成部分，即词汇和正字法。