The present paper investigates the role of three syntactic modifications in the performances of EFL test takers on vocabulary measures across proficiency levels. It also addresses the relationship between syntactic awareness and performance on syntactically modified vocabulary tests. A proficiency test, three syntactically modified vocabulary tests, and a syntactic awareness test were administered to participants (N=1 12). The analyses of the results revealed that syntactic modification of vocabulary tests and level of language ability influence participants’ ability to restore the words that best complete the test. Moreover, it was found that syntactic awareness is positively correlated with performance on different versions of syntactically modified vocabulary tests. On the basis of the findings language teachers are advised to raise students’ syntactic awareness in order to help them use sentence context more effectively to understand the meaning of new words.
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