就外語聽者而言，置身於一連串未經分析、辨識的聲音中去判斷語言文法或字詞等單位是一件不簡單的事。而且聽力理解度和字彙理解度並非完全是同一碼子事。聽力的準確度也並非僅取決於字彙的知識。事實上，聽力也受到聽者背景知識和聽力技巧運用的影響。但是當外語學習者訓練聽力時，他們很少只聽到已經熟悉的內容。因此，外語學習者的字彙知識更是增進聽力理解度不可或缺的要素。本文目的是研究外語聽者的字彙知識與文章內容相關知識的互動關係。六十位大專學生參加本研究。他們各聽兩篇短篇故事，聽完之後回答八題選擇題和一篇問卷調查。故事的內容與聽者的文化背景知識有相當大的差距。兩篇故事唯一的不同點在於字彙的選用。研究的結果證實本人提出的假設：（1）外語學習者對於含有生疏字彙與內容的訊息較難聽得懂。（2）對於含有生疏內容的訊息，如果外語學習者熟悉其中大部分的字彙，他們也能聽得懂。（3）因此，外語學習者的字彙知識能彌補其文章內容相關知識不足的遺憾。

　　　　　The task of identifying word-level units in foreign speech is far from simple for foreign language listeners because segmentation will involve perceiving units in an incompletely analyzed stream of sound. This task would actually become impossible if listeners have not acquired a sufficient vocabulary. This is not to say that listening comprehension and vocabulary comprehension are the same, or that listening accuracy is determined by vocabulary alone. Listening is also affected by listeners' background knowledge and application of listening strategies. But when learners perform listening tasks, not very often will they listen to messages solely comprised of familiar content. Thus, their knowledge in vocabulary seems to be more indispensable for effective listening. This study aims to investigate how word familiarity and content schemata interact with each other to make listeners' task easier or more complex. Sixty college students participated in the study. They were asked to listen to two texts, and respond to a questionnaire. Both texts contained an identical story that reflected a content domain different from the subjects' cultural background. The only difference between the texts was the choice of vocabulary words. The results of the study confirm the hypotheses: (1) Spoken messages with unfamiliar words and unfamiliar content are more difficult to discern and comprehend. (2) Spoken messages with familiar words are relatively easier to discern and comprehend, even though they contain content unfamiliar to learners. (3) Learners' familiarity with vocabulary will compensate for a lack of content schemata.