A survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) indicates that many students believe a poor vocabulary is their biggest obstacle to mastering English.
More than 63 per cent of the students surveyed thought a limited vocabulary had hindered their writing process. They said this was their biggest problem in learning English.
About 61 per cent said they had trouble finding the right word to use while speaking and some 46 per cent attributed listening difficulties to not knowing enough words.
The survey also indicated that almost 64 per cent of the students had never received any formal training in vocabulary building.
Only 16.2 per cent said it had been given adequate attention in their major courses of studies.
About 27.7 per cent had a habit of increasing their 'word power' on their own. CUHK's English Language Teaching Unit surveyed 620 students in 1997.