Aural Vocabulary, Orthographic Vocabulary, and L2 Listening Comprehension in a Cross‐Modality Setting: Adoption of Meaning Recall Tests

ABSTRACT This study investigated the cross‐modality correlations among L2 listening comprehension skills (TOEIC) and aural and orthographic vocabulary knowledge for both single words and phrasal verbs, with reading comprehension used as a comparative measure. Importantly, meaning recall tests were employed because meaning recognition tests may overestimate learners’ vocabulary knowledge. Data from 76 Japanese university learners showed that both vocabulary modalities were related to L2 listening comprehension. However, partial correlation analyses indicated that only aural phrasal verb knowledge showed a small but significant association with L2 listening comprehension. These findings indicate that the contribution of aural phrasal verb knowledge to L2 listening comprehension is limited, while the integrated development of both aural and orthographic vocabulary knowledge, including phrasal verbs, is beneficial for this learner group.