Relationship Between Students’ Attitude Towards Vocabulary Learning and Their English Vocabulary Knowledge Kebede Kassa Department of English Language and Literature, Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia Zeleke Arficho  Department of English Language and Literature, Hawassa University, Ethiopia Mebratu Mulatu Department of English Language and Literature, Hawassa University, Ethiopia Abstract—This study investigated the relationship between students’ attitude (cognitive, affective and behavioral) towards vocabulary learning and their English vocabulary knowledge (breadth, depth and fluency) with reference to Grade 9. It employed a correlational research design and simple random sampling and stratified sampling techniques. Pearson’s r was computed to examine the relationship between each of the three aspects of students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning and their breadth, depth and fluency of English vocabulary knowledge. The coefficient of determination (r2) was calculated and multiplied by 100 to give a percentage value to examine how a difference in one variable is predicted by the difference in another variable. The findings show that there is a very strong positive relationship between students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning and their breadth of English vocabulary knowledge, but a strong positive relationship for a few aspect of breadth of vocabulary knowledge. A moderate positive relationship was found between the students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning and their depth of English vocabulary knowledge, but a weak positive relationship between their cognitive and affective aspects of attitude and their knowledge of some aspects of depth of vocabulary knowledge. There is a moderate positive relationship between each aspect of students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning and their fluency of English vocabulary knowledge. It is also found that the students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning predicts their breath, depth and fluency of English vocabulary knowledge by 77.44%, 26.3169% and 35.76% respectively (maximum values). Lastly, appropriate recommendations were made based on the conclusions of the study. Index Terms—relationship, attitude, vocabulary learning, vocabulary knowledge I. INTRODUCTION There have been various approaches to language learning, each with diverse perspectives on vocabulary, for a period of more than two thousand years (Schmitt, 2000). At the time of Roman (in the 2nd century B.C), the Greek language vocabulary was learned beginning with the alphabet in early school for second language acquisition (Zorzos , 2009). Then, the students gradually increased their progress in vocabulary skills up to developed discourse (Bowen et al., 1985). Later, in the medieval period (1000-1450 A.D), grammar was overemphasized more than vocabulary during the language instruction renaissance. The matter of attention given to either vocabulary or grammar, speaking or reading, was relayed to the language experts who were initiated to contribute such work to the generation. If there were no existing vocabulary learning in English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning process, there would be great challenges in English language learning in the academic environment. Considering this problem, in the history of English, the first standardized vocabulary called “A Table Alphabetical Dictionary” was produced by Robert Cawdrey (1604). Later, improving this approach, William and Comenius (1611, cited in Schmitt, 2000) attempted to create vocabulary acquisition text to raise vocabulary status. And also in 1755, Samuel Johnson wrote a standard reference titled “Dictionary of the English Language”. In the 18th and 19th centuries, English language instructional materials including vocabulary were prepared based on Latin models considering all things in a natural law which could be derived from logic as any language had no difference (Schmitt, 2000). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, in the time of the Grammar Translation Method (GTM), students were mainly expected to know essential vocabularies by using only their efforts through bilingual dictionary word lists. After GTM was downplayed, the Direct Method (DM) focused on meaning-based oral language via listening as a primary skill, and limited instructional time was taken to vocabulary acquisition naturally. Next to DM, Coleman (1929) in the United States and West (1935) in Britain formulated the Reading Method emphasizing reading skills by promoting  Corresponding Author, Email: zelekearficho@gmail.com ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 12, No. 10, pp. 1953-1960, October 2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1210.01 © 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION