Liu, Y., & Zhang, D. (2025). Contribution of different vocabulary depth knowledge to reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers. Reading in a Foreign Language, 37(2), 62-84.

This study distinguished between two vocabulary depth (VD) aspects, that is, semantic network knowledge and polysemous knowledge; and tested how they, together with vocabulary size (VS), predicted reading comprehension in advanced English L2 readers. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that both VD aspects were a significant, unique predictor of reading comprehension; the two aspects collectively demonstrated a stronger effect on reading comprehension than did VS. Differential patterns, however, were revealed when VD and VS were regressed on different reading comprehension tasks. These findings underscored the importance of VD in L2 reading comprehension and also suggested that L2 readers may utilize their lexical repertoire differentially to cope with varied task demands and comprehension needs.