©ARC Page | 90 The Effect of Vocabulary Knowledge on Reading Comprehension of Iranian EFL Learners in Kerman Azad University

Abstract: Reading is a language-based skill and involves cognitive process. It is the most important skill to master in order to ensure success in learning. Reading is a process that requires effort on the readers’ parts if they want to understand what they are reading. A considerable amount of research has been devoted to understanding the process that contribute to reading comprehension.Vocabulary knowledge and its role in reading comprehension has been one of the main areas of focus in second language research for the last twenty years. So, the present study tends to investigate the effect of vocabulary knowledge on EFL learners ’ reading comprehension performance. Data were collected by questionnaire from 81 Iranian EFL undergraduate students of English.The results of Pearson Correlation analyses showed a significant positive relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. The findings suggest that giving awareness of vocabulary knowledge to the students along with making them conscious of their ability gives them a broader sense of the depth of reading comprehension texts and improves their reading ability. 1