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Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement

James Milton, Jim Milton

Applied Linguistics Review, Volume: 4, Issue: 3, Pages: 151 - 172

Swansea University Author: Jim Milton

Abstract

Many researchers have tried to assess the number of words adults know. A general conclusion which emerges from such studies is that vocabularies of English monolingual adults are very large with considerable variation. This variation is important given that the vocabulary size of schoolchildren in t...

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Published in: Applied Linguistics Review
Published: 2013
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa13625
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first_indexed 2013-07-23T12:10:36Z
last_indexed 2018-02-09T04:44:27Z
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spelling 2014-01-28T11:12:58.8653290 v2 13625 2012-12-11 Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement 7d251e1952cec9d77ed4fc21346fec8d Jim Milton Jim Milton true false 2012-12-11 FGHSS Many researchers have tried to assess the number of words adults know. A general conclusion which emerges from such studies is that vocabularies of English monolingual adults are very large with considerable variation. This variation is important given that the vocabulary size of schoolchildren in the early years of school is thought to materially affect subsequent educational attainment. The data is difficult to interpret, however, because of the different methodologies which researchers use. The study in this paper uses the frequency-based vocabulary size test from Goulden et al (1990) and investigates the vocabulary knowledge of undergraduates in three British universities. The results suggest that monolingual speaker vocabulary sizes may be much smaller than is generally thought with far less variation than is usually reported. An average figure of about 10,000 English words families emerges for entrants to university. This figure suggests that many students must struggle with the comprehension of university level texts. Journal Article Applied Linguistics Review 4 3 151 172 vocabulary size, first language 31 12 2013 2013-12-31 COLLEGE NANME Humanities and Social Sciences - Faculty COLLEGE CODE FGHSS Swansea University 2014-01-28T11:12:58.8653290 2012-12-11T14:29:09.6635215 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics James Milton 1 Jim Milton 2
title Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
spellingShingle Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
Jim Milton
title_short Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
title_full Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
title_fullStr Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
title_full_unstemmed Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
title_sort Vocabulary size revisited: the link between vocabulary size and academic achievement
author_id_str_mv 7d251e1952cec9d77ed4fc21346fec8d
author_id_fullname_str_mv 7d251e1952cec9d77ed4fc21346fec8d_***_Jim Milton
author Jim Milton
author2 James Milton
Jim Milton
format Journal article
container_title Applied Linguistics Review
container_volume 4
container_issue 3
container_start_page 151
publishDate 2013
institution Swansea University
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - English Language, Tesol, Applied Linguistics
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description Many researchers have tried to assess the number of words adults know. A general conclusion which emerges from such studies is that vocabularies of English monolingual adults are very large with considerable variation. This variation is important given that the vocabulary size of schoolchildren in the early years of school is thought to materially affect subsequent educational attainment. The data is difficult to interpret, however, because of the different methodologies which researchers use. The study in this paper uses the frequency-based vocabulary size test from Goulden et al (1990) and investigates the vocabulary knowledge of undergraduates in three British universities. The results suggest that monolingual speaker vocabulary sizes may be much smaller than is generally thought with far less variation than is usually reported. An average figure of about 10,000 English words families emerges for entrants to university. This figure suggests that many students must struggle with the comprehension of university level texts.
published_date 2013-12-31T03:15:35Z
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