A Comparative Analysis of Vocabulary Size in Elementary School English Textbooks in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Fang-hsien Hsu, 許紡銜
• Other Authors: 陳怡真
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/01879222819575229617

碩士 === 南台科技大學 === 應用英語系 === 98 === This study used Taipei’s 320 Word list and three English word lists (300 High Frequency Words, 315 Dolch Sight Words and 300 Fry’s Instant Words) to build a vocabulary size for elementary school students. Four sets of English textbooks (Hess, Kang-xuan, Longman and Melody) were examined to uncover whether or not the textbooks published are based on the Taipei’s 320 Word list, the MOE’s 1000 Basic English words and three English word lists. Overlap and coverage were analyzed using Text Lex Compare and RANGE32. In addition, a questionnaire survey is conducted to investigate elementary school English teachers’ opinions on vocabulary size. The major findings are: 1. The recommended English vocabulary size for students in Taiwan is 612 words. 2. English by Longman had the highest overlapping and coverage. 3. Most English teachers agreed to set the vocabulary size; 612 words is a workable vocabulary size for students in Taiwan. This study might serve as guidance/reference for EFL teachers, textbook editors, and material designers.