Vocabulary Mastery and TOEFL ITP Listening Performance: Correlational Evidence from Indonesian EFL Undergraduates
Kata Kunci:
correlational evidence, EFL undergraduates, listening performance, TOEFL, vocabulary masteryAbstrak
Vocabulary knowledge is considered an important linguistic resource for understanding spoken English, yet its relationship with TOEFL ITP listening performance remains underexamined among Indonesian undergraduates approaching program completion. This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary mastery and TOEFL ITP listening performance among seventh-semester students in the English Education Study Program at Cokroaminoto Palopo University. A quantitative correlational design was employed, involving 17 students selected purposively from the reported population of 108 students. Data were collected using a 30-item multiple-choice vocabulary mastery test and a 50-item listening test covering short conversations, extended conversations, and talks. Listening scores were converted to a 1–100 scale before descriptive classification. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, an analysis-of-variance test for linearity, and a two-tailed Pearson product–moment correlation. Vocabulary mastery was predominantly classified as fair, with a mean of 63.18 (SD = 12.39), whereas listening performance was predominantly poor or very poor, with a mean of 38.82 (SD = 15.26). The variables were positively and significantly correlated, r(15) = .669, p = .003, 95% CI (.277, .870), and shared approximately 44.7% of their variance. These findings provide context-specific evidence that stronger vocabulary mastery is associated with better TOEFL ITP listening performance, while not establishing causality. Vocabulary instruction should therefore incorporate auditory word recognition and contextualized listening practice. Results also underline the distinction between lexical knowledge and real-time auditory access. Because the sample was small and institution-specific, larger multisite studies using validated aural vocabulary measures and authorized standardized listening instruments are recommended.
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