The Correlation Between English Learning Frequency, Vocabulary Mastery and Proficiency Level

Abstract

Vocabulary is a fundamental aspect of language as the building blocks of language and communication. A good mastery of vocabulary allows an individual to utilize more language elements and enhance their skills and proficiency (Masrai & Milton, 2017). There are many factors that determines vocabulary size, one of them is learning frequency. According to Verhallen, (1994) frequency of language input plays an important role in the vocabulary size and depth growth as both would be affected by the same factor of frequency of language input. Moreover, learning frequency and vocabulary mastery also determines language proficiency, therefore the researcher interested in studying the correlation between them. This study used correlational research design on three variables which are vocabulary mastery, learning frequency and English proficiency. The data for this research collected in the form of learning frequency questionnaire, vocabulary mastery test, and TOEFL score from 65 students from 8th semester of English department from University of Islam Malang through Google Form. The data are analysed SPSS Pearson’s Correlation. The result of the study indicates that most of the students are at B1 intermediate level of language proficiency. In regards to the result answering the research question, the researcher found that all the correlations are significant with significance of 0.000 for the correlation between vocabulary and learning frequency and vocabulary with language proficiency which both are correlated at medium level. Meanwhile, the correlation between learning frequency and proficiency level shows the significant correlation at 0.044 and low correlation. Keywords: Learning Frequency, Proficiency Level, Vocabulary