This is a preprint article examining Medical English vocabulary processing in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), with a focus on the role of context in reading comprehension. The study investigates whether isolated vs contextualised lexical processing more effectively supports receptive vocabulary access in ESP reading tasks. Using a corpus analysis-based approach, corpus-derived lexical items were selected and systematically analysed across frequency levels and word classes. The research contributes to ongoing debates in Medical English and ESP pedagogy, particularly regarding how learners process specialised vocabulary during reading comprehension tasks. The findings provide evidence that contextualised vocabulary presentation does not uniformly enhance ESP reading comprehension, and that isolated lexical processing may offer advantages under certain cognitive conditions. The study is grounded in cognitive and lexical processing theory and contributes to research in Medical English, ESP, corpus analysis, context effects, and reading comprehension. As a preprint, this manuscript has not yet undergone peer review and is shared to support early dissemination of research findings and academic discussion.
Evgeni Stanchev (Thu,) studied this question.