Abstract
This study attempts to compare aural and written vocabulary knowledge (size) of Japanese university EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners and investigate their relationship to listening and reading abilities, and overall English proficiency To this end, two types of vocabulary size tests were developed using a word list tailored to Japanese EFL learners, and they were administered to a total of 332 i.miversity students. The results indicated that the aural and written format of the tests produced a differing result, although the overall tendency was the same. Item analysis was then canied out to further investigate the differences. Analysis of correlation coefficients of proficiency measires and the two formats of the vocabulary size tests revealed that both the aural and itten vocabulary size of the participants correlated strongly with the proficiency meases. Based on the findings, practical knplications are discussed for the effective use of vocabulary size tests in educational settings.
