Developing corpus-based word lists for English language learning and teaching: A critical appraisal of the English Vocabulary Profile
Developing corpus-based word lists for English language learning and teaching: A critical appraisal of the English Vocabulary Profile

Author(s): Yukio Tono
Subject(s): Education, Lexis, Semantics, Language acquisition, Pragmatics
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: syllabus; textbooks; English Vocabulary; Profile word lists;
Summary/Abstract: This study investigates the validity of a new type of English wordlist called the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP), by a group of researchers at Cambridge. This wordlist is unique in the sense that it not only classifies vocabulary levels by CEFR, but also provides CEFR levels for each sense of a word. The wordlist is being created by looking into the frequencies of use in corpora of native speakers and of learners of English. Whilst the approach is quite appealing, the actual procedure for determining the difficulty levels of word meanings is found to be problematic. This study poses a fundamental question of whether it is possible to rank the word senses in the order of difficulty, and whether the wordlist can be constructed encompassing both productive and receptive aspects of vocabulary knowledge at the same level.

• Details
• Contents