Since the past few decades, English has become increasingly important in China. English is a compulsory
subject since Grade 3 of all elementary schools with suitably qualified English teachers. English also plays a
major role in college admission decisions and promotional decisions in the workplace. In light of this, numerous
English teaching materials and courses have been developed in order to meet the diverse needs of Chinese EFL
learners. In designing the course, teaching materials and syllabus, it is crucial for the designers to gain a clear
idea of learners’ language proficiency, especially their vocabulary knowledge. In the vocabulary assessments reported so far, the tested words were mostly sampled from the word list included in “College English Curriculum Requirements”, which was based on words’ frequency, coverage and range. So far, no research has yet been done specifically on academic vocabulary knowledge of Chinese EFL learners. In light of this, the paper reports a comparative study on the receptive and productive knowledge of academic vocabulary of Chinese college EFL learners. The purpose of this study is to gain an insight into the academic vocabulary knowledge of Chinese college EFL learners, with implications for college English teaching and learning.