What did you study?
In my dissertation, I studied Finnish university students’ knowledge of English word part knowledge, that is, their ability to recognize the smallest meaningful parts of words and understand their meanings. In particular, I examined how this knowledge could be used in the teaching and learning of academic vocabulary.
What were the results of your study, or what is its main conclusion?
My study showed that knowledge of English word formation is a key factor in learning academic words and understanding their meanings. Because academic vocabulary is often built using word parts that are shared across many languages, recognizing word parts and their meanings helps students infer meanings efficiently, deepen their vocabulary knowledge, and develop multilingual awareness across languages. Additionally, word part knowledge was associated with versatile and analytical language skills, although its strategic and independent use requires instructional support and guidance.
How can the results be applied? What new knowledge did the study provide?
The study provides new insights into how word part knowledge can be used in academic contexts, especially when deliberately applied as a learning strategy. The results can be used in English teaching by emphasizing the role of word formation in learning academic vocabulary and understanding word meanings. Students can be aided in identifying the smallest meaningful units in words and applying this knowledge systematically to their vocabulary learning. This ability supports deep vocabulary mastery, strengthens understanding of word structure and relationships across languages, and enhances analytical language skills.
FM Anna Reini defends their doctoral dissertation in English language "University Students' use of receptive morphological knowledge in L2 English academic vocabulary acquisition" on 29 May 2025 at 12 o'clock. Opponent is senior lecturer Annekatrin Kaivapalu (University of Helsinki) and custos is senior lecturer Katja Mäntylä. The event will be conducted in two languages (Finnish and English, with Finnish as the primary language).
