Flashcards on Syllabus and Curriculum Design in ELT
Syllabus and Curriculum Design in ELT: A Student's Guide
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Vocabulary Selection in Language Teaching
19 cards
Card 1
Question: Approximately how many words does an educated native speaker recognize (recognition vocabulary)?
Answer: About 17,000 words.
Card 2
Question: Why is teaching the entire native-speaker vocabulary unrealistic for L2 learners?
Answer: Because it far exceeds what can be taught and learners have limited time and do not need all native-speaker vocabulary.
Card 3
Question: What key question arises when selecting vocabulary sizes for learners?
Answer: Should learners be taught 1,000 or 5,000 words, and which specific words should be chosen?
Card 4
Question: What selection criterion involves analysing texts and counting how often words occur?
Answer: Word frequency — analysing spoken or written samples and counting word frequency.
Card 5
Question: What limitation affects frequency-based selection of vocabulary?
Answer: Frequency depends on the type of corpus used, so frequent words in one corpus may not be frequent in another.
Card 6
Question: What did early frequency studies use before modern computer corpora?
Answer: Reading materials and large text collections counted manually; they predated computer corpora.
Card 7
Question: How much of everyday texts can a relatively small number of words account for, according to frequency research?
Answer: A small number of words can account for up to about 95% of everyday texts.
Card 8
Question: According to Hirsch, how many words are needed for roughly 95% and 98% coverage of texts?
Answer: About 4,000–5,000 words for 95% coverage, and 8,000–9,000 words for 98% coverage.
Card 9
Question: Does knowing 5,000 words guarantee full comprehension? Why or why not?
Answer: No — comprehension still depends on subject matter, text type, and the reader’s prior knowledge.
Card 10
Question: What is 'range' or 'dispersion' in vocabulary selection?
Answer: Range (dispersion) is how widely a word appears across different text types; words with wide range are more useful.