A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching
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...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2014
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32297/ |
| _version_ | 1848794378631380992 |
|---|---|
| author | Schmitt, Norbert Schmitt, Diane |
| author_facet | Schmitt, Norbert Schmitt, Diane |
| author_sort | Schmitt, Norbert |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | 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. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:15:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-32297 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:15:15Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-322972020-05-04T16:53:04Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32297/ A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching Schmitt, Norbert Schmitt, Diane 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. Cambridge University Press 2014-10-01 Article PeerReviewed Schmitt, Norbert and Schmitt, Diane (2014) A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching. Language Teaching, 47 (4). pp. 484-503. ISSN 1475-3049 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9338615&fileId=S0261444812000018 doi:10.1017/S0261444812000018 doi:10.1017/S0261444812000018 |
| spellingShingle | Schmitt, Norbert Schmitt, Diane A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title | A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title_full | A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title_fullStr | A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title_full_unstemmed | A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title_short | A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching |
| title_sort | reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in l2 vocabulary teaching |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32297/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32297/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/32297/ |