The Effect of Short-Term Vocabulary Knowledge on Reading Comprehension of Iranian Intermediate EFL Learners

The present study was an attempt to explore the effect of short-term vocabulary knowledge on the reading comprehension of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. The participants were divided into two groups of control and experimental, each comprising ۳۰ learners. The experimental group received a series of treatments aimed at improving reading comprehension while the control group was taught traditionally. An online reading comprehension level test from Oxford was given to both groups as the pre and post-tests. After data collection, a Mann-Whitney U test was run to investigate the reading comprehension levels of the participating groups before and after the treatment. The results of the study highlighted the significant effect of short-term vocabulary knowledge on the experimental group participants as they received it as the treatment. The study's findings may be useful in helping teachers understand the implications of incorporating short-term vocabulary knowledge into their English classes in order to improve their students' reading comprehension, as well as answering some of their questions about how to use and improve this short-term vocabulary knowledge in their classrooms.