| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS | 第1-9页 |
| ABSTRACT | 第9-11页 |
| 摘要 | 第11-14页 |
| LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter Ⅰ INTRODUCTION | 第16-19页 |
| ·Background and purpose | 第16-17页 |
| ·Organization of the present study | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter Ⅱ LITERATURE REVIEW | 第19-37页 |
| ·Language learning strategies | 第19-20页 |
| ·Reading strategies | 第20-21页 |
| ·Lexical inference | 第21-24页 |
| ·Knowledge sources for the use of inference strategies | 第22-24页 |
| ·Factors affecting readers’ lexical inference | 第24页 |
| ·Second language proficiency | 第24-28页 |
| ·Vocabulary knowledge | 第25-28页 |
| ·Breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge | 第25-27页 |
| ·Receptive and productive vocabulary | 第27-28页 |
| ·Reading comprehension ability | 第28页 |
| ·Theoretical Framework | 第28-33页 |
| ·Haastrup’s taxonomy of knowledge sources | 第29-31页 |
| ·Contextual cues | 第29页 |
| ·Intralingual cues | 第29-30页 |
| ·Interlingual cues | 第30-31页 |
| ·The Cross-talk Continuum Model | 第31-33页 |
| ·The Minimalist Hypothesis and the Constructionist Theory of Inferences Generation | 第33页 |
| ·Previous studies on second language proficiency and lexical inference | 第33-37页 |
| ·Positive role of L2 proficiency in inferences | 第34-35页 |
| ·Limited effect of L2 proficiency in inferences | 第35-36页 |
| ·Limitations of previous studies | 第36-37页 |
| Chapter Ⅲ METHODOLOGY | 第37-45页 |
| ·Research questions | 第37-38页 |
| ·Participants | 第38页 |
| ·Instruments | 第38-42页 |
| ·L2 proficiency test | 第39-41页 |
| ·The Vocabulary Level Test | 第39-40页 |
| ·Reading comprehension test | 第40-41页 |
| ·Lexical inferences test | 第41-42页 |
| ·Reading passages and the target words | 第41-42页 |
| ·Questionnaires | 第42页 |
| ·Scoring | 第42页 |
| ·Procedure | 第42-44页 |
| ·The pretest | 第43页 |
| ·Pilot study | 第43-44页 |
| ·The lexical inferences test and questionnaires | 第44页 |
| ·Data analysis | 第44-45页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅳ RESULTS AND DISCUSSION | 第45-66页 |
| ·Results of the L2 proficiency tests | 第45-48页 |
| ·Results of the VLT | 第45-46页 |
| ·Results of the model tests of reading comprehension in TOEFL | 第46-48页 |
| ·The relationship between L2 proficiency and accuracy in inferences test | 第48-52页 |
| ·Results of the relationship between L2 proficiency and accuracy in inferences test | 第48-51页 |
| ·Discussion of the relationship between L2 proficiency and accuracy in inferences test | 第51-52页 |
| ·Accuracy in light of word classes of the target words | 第52-54页 |
| ·The L2 proficiency and knowledge sources employed | 第54-60页 |
| ·Results of relationship between L2 proficiency and knowledge sources employed | 第54-57页 |
| ·Discussion of relationship between L2 proficiency and knowledge sources employed | 第57-60页 |
| ·Accuracy and types of knowledge sources used | 第60-66页 |
| ·Results of accuracy in inferences test and types of knowledge sources used | 第60-64页 |
| ·Discussion of accuracy in inferences test and types of knowledge sources employed | 第64-66页 |
| CHAPTER Ⅴ CONCLUSION | 第66-69页 |
| ·Findings from the present study | 第66-67页 |
| ·Pedagogical implications of the present study | 第67页 |
| ·Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future researches | 第67-69页 |
| Appendix 1 The Vocabulary Levels Test 词汇知识水平测试 | 第69-77页 |
| Appendix 2 Reading Comprehension Test | 第77-89页 |
| Appendix 3 Lexical inferences test | 第89-92页 |
| Appendix 4 Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (Chinese version) | 第92-97页 |
| Appendix 5 Raw data | 第97-103页 |
| REFERENCES | 第103-108页 |
