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essential dimension, it does not mean that the other dimension i.e. depth of knowledge is not important. For advanced learners it is important that they
acquire more senses of polysemous word and learn more about possible collocates, special uses, and so on Boogards, 2000: 495.
The present study is conducted with the aim to study the depth of vocabulary knowledge of the third semester students of English Education Study
Program of Sanata Dharma University. The study is focused on the third semester students who are considered as the sophomore students. From the study, an
assumption of depth of vocabulary knowledge of EFL learners in the initial level could be gained, so that further research aiming to observe the development of
vocabulary knowledge could use the results or finding of this study as one of the
related references.
B. Problem Identification
Lexical knowledge is more a matter of degree than ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and implies far more than just knowing one meaning for each form Wesche
Paribakht, 1996: 14 cited in Boogards, 2000: 498. Knowledge of words concerns to the knowledge of its form, its position, its function and its meaning. Thus,
assessing vocabulary either in L1 or L2 context should consider all of those four aspects. Testing vocabulary in a second or foreign language is not as
straightforward an affair as is sometimes thought Boogards, 2000: 490. The design of the test depends on what one wants to know about the learners’
vocabulary knowledge. The appropriate material and adequate procedures should be selected to arrive at valid and reputable results Boogards, 2000: 490.
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Greidanus and Nienhuis 2001 states that a word could be known in all sorts of degrees: from knowing that a given form is an existing word to knowledge
including all four aspects of word knowledge which are knowing its form, its position, its function, and its meaning. Vocabulary knowledge of either L1 or L2
learners expands in breadth or the learners’ vocabulary sizes the number of known words grows and also in depth the knowledge concerning the words
already known increases, in other words, the quality of what the learners know
increases Greidanus Nienhuis, 2001: 567.
C. Problem Limitation
The discussion of the research would be limited on the depth of vocabulary knowledge acquired by the students of English Education Study
Program focused on the third semester students. The investigation of the students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge covers the discussion on the students’ meaning
mapping on the tested English verbs.
D. Problem Formulation
The general problem of the investigation, the study on the depth of vocabulary knowledge of the third semester students of English Education Study
Program of Sanata Dharma University, is formulated into more specific problem below:
1. What is the depth of vocabulary knowledge acquired by the third semester students of English Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma
University?
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E. Research Objective
