The Contribution of Syntactic and Lexical Knowledge to Foreign Language Reading Comprehension

The current study was designed to identify the relative significance of syntactic and lexical knowledge in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) reading comprehension 254 adult Turkish university students. role two dimensions knowledge, depth breadth L2 were also examined study. A Syntactic Knowledge Test (SKT), Reading Comprehension (RCT) composed TOEFL, Vocabulary Levels (VLT) Word Associates (WAT) used data collection process. Correlation multiple regression analyses utilized analyze data. showed that all variables positively significantly correlated with each other. Moreover, independent together predicted RCT scores participants. However, when variable separately, most contributive comprehension. Lexical explained EFL learners. unique contribution very low not significant. findings compared previous findings, discussed justified accordance them. Pedagogical implications offered.