Norbert Schmitt
A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching
Schmitt, Norbert; Schmitt, Diane
Authors
Diane Schmitt
Abstract
The high-frequency vocabulary of English has traditionally been thought to consist of the 2,000 most frequent word families, and low-frequency vocabulary as that beyond the 10,000 frequency level. This paper argues that these boundaries should be reassessed on pedagogic grounds. Based on a number of perspectives (including frequency and acquisition studies, the amount of vocabulary necessary for English usage, the range of graded readers, and dictionary defining vocabulary), we argue that high-frequency English vocabulary should include the most frequent 3,000 word families. We also propose that the low-frequency vocabulary boundary should be lowered to the 9,000 level, on the basis that 8–9,000 word families are sufficient to provide the lexical resources necessary to be able to read a wide range of authentic texts (Nation 2006). We label the vocabulary between high-frequency (3,000) and low-frequency (9,000+) as mid-frequency vocabulary. We illustrate the necessity of mid-frequency vocabulary for proficient language use, and make some initial suggestions for research addressing the pedagogical challenge raised by mid-frequency vocabulary.
Citation
Schmitt, N., & Schmitt, D. (2014). A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching. Language Teaching, 47(4), https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000018
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Oct 1, 2014 |
Deposit Date | Mar 14, 2016 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 29, 2024 |
Journal | Language Teaching |
Print ISSN | 0261-4448 |
Electronic ISSN | 1475-3049 |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 47 |
Issue | 4 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000018 |
Public URL | https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/734831 |
Publisher URL | http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9338615&fileId=S0261444812000018 |
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