Lexical Richness in L2 Writing: How Much Vocabulary Do L2 Learners Need to Use?
1
조회
0
다운로드
4
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
While there has been accumulation of research into how L2 vocabulary knowledge is related to L2 writing, research on how many words L2 learners actually use in their writing has been poorly done. The goals of the present study are to examine lexical richness in the L2 texts with a comparison of L1 texts, and also to investigate how L2 lexical richness correlates with holistic ratings of L2 texts. Data was collected from three sources: essays of one-hundred twenty-two university students (N=122) for L2 intermediate proficiency texts, fifty TWE samples (N=50) for L2 high proficiency texts, and fifty sample articles from Time magazine (N=50) for L1 texts. Lexical richness of the texts was examined through measures of lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and lexical density. The data analysis has shown that the D value, a measure of lexical diversity, was the only factor that distinguished different levels of texts. The measure of LFP, a measure of lexical sophistication, indicated that both L1 or L2 texts contained over 83% of words at the 2,000 most frequent word level. Lexical density has been shown to be a non-significant factor for holistic ratings of writing. Pedagogical implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.
Abstract
While there has been accumulation of research into how L2 vocabulary knowledge is related to L2 writing, research on how many words L2 learners actually use in their writing has been poorly done. The goals of the present study are to examine lexical richness in the L2 texts with a comparison of L1 texts, and also to investigate how L2 lexical richness correlates with holistic ratings of L2 texts. Data was collected from three sources: essays of one-hundred twenty-two university students (N=122) for L2 intermediate proficiency texts, fifty TWE samples (N=50) for L2 high proficiency texts, and fifty sample articles from Time magazine (N=50) for L1 texts. Lexical richness of the texts was examined through measures of lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and lexical density. The data analysis has shown that the D value, a measure of lexical diversity, was the only factor that distinguished different levels of texts. The measure of LFP, a measure of lexical sophistication, indicated that both L1 or L2 texts contained over 83% of words at the 2,000 most frequent word level. Lexical density has been shown to be a non-significant factor for holistic ratings of writing. Pedagogical implications and limitations of the present study are discussed.
참고문헌 (33)
- Aliakbari,M, "Writing in a foreign language: A writing problem or a language problem?", Journal of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, 6, pp.157~168 (2002)
- Arnaud,L, "The lexical richness of L2 written productions and the validity of vocabulary tests. In: Practice and problems in language testing", pp.14~28 (1984), University of Essex, Department of Language and Linguistics
- Astika,G, "Analytical assessments of foreign language students' writing", RELC Journal, 24통권 : 71, pp.16~71 (1993)
- Bardovi-Harlig, K, "Attainment of syntactic and morphological accuracy by advanced language learners", Studies in Second language Acquisition, 11, pp.17~24 (1989)
- "Web Vocabprofile" (2002)[URL]
- Cumming, A, "Building models of adult second-language writing instruction", Learning and Instruction, 10, pp.55~71 (2000)
- Daller, H, "Lexical richness and the oral proficiency of Chinese EFL students. In: Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge", pp.150~164 (2007), Cambridge University Press
- Daller, H, "What is in a teacher’s mind?: Teaching ratings of EFL essays and different aspect of lexical richness. In: Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge", pp.234~244 (2007), Cambridge University Press
- Engber,C, "The relationship of lexical proficiency to the quality of ESL compositions", Journal of Second Language Writing, 4, pp.139~155 (1995)
- Grobe,G, "Syntactic maturity, mechanics, and vocabulary as predictors of quality ratings", Research in the Teaching of English, 15, pp.75~85 (1981)
- Hayes, J, "Fluency in writing: Generating text in L1 and L2", Written Communication, 18, pp.80~98 (2001)
- Hyltenstam,K, "Lexical characteristics of near-native second-language learners of Swedish", Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 9, pp.67~84 (1988)
- Laufer,B, "The lexical profile of second language writing: Does it change over time?", RELC Journal, 25, pp.21~33 (1994)
- Laufer,B, "Beyond 2000: A measure of productive lexicon in a second language. In: The current state of interlanguage", pp.265~272 (1995), John Benjamins
- Laufer, B, "Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production", Applied Linguistics, 16, pp.307~322 (1995)
- Lee,S.H, "ESL learners' vocabulary use in writing and the effects of explicit vocabulary instruction", System, 31, pp.537~561 (2003)
- Leki, L, "Students' perceptions of EAP writing instruction and writing needs across the disciplines", TESOL Quarterly, 28, pp.81~101 (1994)
- Linnarud,M, "Lexis in composition: A performance analysis of Swedish learners’ written English" (1986), Gleerup
- MacWhinney,B, "The CHILDES project: Tools for analyzing talk,Vol.1: Transcription format and programs (3rd ed.)" (2000), Lawrence Erlbaum
- MacWhinney,B, "The CHILDES project: Tools for analyzing talk, Vol.2: The database (3rd ed.)" (2000), Lawrence Erlbaum
- Malvern, D, "Investigating accommodation in language proficiency interviews using a new measure of lexical diversity", Language Testing, 19, pp.85~104 (2002)
- Muncie,J, "Process writing and vocabulary development: Comparing lexical frequency profiles across drafts", System, 30, pp.225~235 (2002)
- Nation,P., "Vocabulary lists: Words, affixes and stems" (1984), English University of Wellington, English Language Institute
- Nation,P, "Learning vocabulary in another language" (2001), Cambridge University Press
- Raimes,A, "What unskilled ESL students do as they write: Aclassroom study of composing", TESOL Quarterly, 19, pp.229~258 (1985)
- Read,J, "Assessing vocabulary" (2000), Cambridge University Press
- Santos,T, "Professor's reaction to the academic writing of nonnative-speaking students", TESOL Quarterly, 22, pp.69~90 (1988)
- Saville-Troike,M, "What really matters in second language learning for academic achievement?", TESOL Quarterly, 18, pp.199~219 (1984)
- Silva,T, "L1 vs. L2 writing: ESL graduate students’ perception", TESL Canada Journal, 10, pp.27~48 (1992)
- Tidball, F, "Exploring measures of vocabulary richness in semi-spontaneous French speech. In: Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge", pp.133~149 (2007), Cambridge University Press
- Van Gelderen, A, "The effect of enhanced lexical retrieval on second language writing: A classroom experiment", Applied Psycholinguistics, 25, pp.175~200 (2004)
- Waller,T, "Characteristics of near-native proficiency in writing. In: Near-native proficiency in English", pp.183~293 (1993), Akademi Unverisity, English Department
- Zimmermann,R, "L2 writing: Subprocesses, a model of formulation and empirical findings", Learning and Instruction, 10, pp.73~99 (2000)