Article published In: Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 5:1 (2016) ► pp.18–33
Lexicale rijkdom, frequentielagen en tekstmoeilijkheid
Article language: Dutch
Published online: 8 July 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.5.1.02ver
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.5.1.02ver
In line with recent developments in both language acquisition and text comprehension studies, it is argued that more reliable and valid lexical richness measures can be obtained by including frequency class information. To that end, texts written by 452 elementary school children (L1/L2) in grades 3–6 were investigated. In order to find out whether a frequency class based lexical measure is more valid than type/token based measures, the central question to be answered was whether with increasing vocabulary skills from grades 3 to 6 (measured by standardized vocabulary tests), the number of low frequency words in children’s writings increased, and whether L2-children with lower vocabulary skills used relatively more high frequency words than their L1-peers. The results show a gradually growing number of low frequency words: children in grade 3 use more words belonging to the 1,000–5,000 word frequency range; in grades 4/5 more from the 5,000–12,500 range; and in grade 6 more from the 12,500-plus range. L2-children in all grades use relatively more words from the first frequency class (the first 1,000 lemmas) than their L1-peers. The effect sizes, however, with eta2 ranging from .09 to .02 between grades, and from eta2 = .01 to nonsignificant between L1/L2, were lower than those of the standardized productive and receptive vocabulary tests (eta2 = .26-.35 resp. between grades, eta2 = .34-.23 resp. between L1/L2), and also lower than the effect sizes for the number of different types in the texts (eta2 = .23 between grades, and .01 between NT1/NT2). The TTR shows only a significant difference in the wrong direction (grade 6 outperforming grade 5). The frequency class based lexical measure MLR discriminates significantly both between the grades and between L1/L2, but the effect sizes are low (eta2 = .05 between grades, and eta2 = .02 between L1/L2). These outcomes show evidence that a frequency class based lexical measure as the MLR is more valid than a type/token based measure such as the TTR.
References (32)
BasiLex-corpus. Van [URL]
Brown, Ch. (1993). Factors affecting the acquisition of vocabulary: Frequency and saliency of words. In Th. Huckin, M. Haynes, & J. Coady (Eds.), Second language reading and vocabulary learning (pp. 263–286). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Decoo, W. (2012). De Europese pogingen om tot lexicale normen te komen: welke woordenschat hoort bij welk niveau? Levende Talen Magazine, 99, 7, 20–24.
Goossens, N., & Vermeer, A. (2009). Wat is een optimale tekstdekking? Woordkennis en tekstbegrip in groep 6. Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen, 821, 81–92.
Hout, R. van, & Vermeer, A. (1989). Spontane taaldata en het meten van lexicale rijkdom in tweede-taalverwerving. Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen, 321, 108–122.
. (2007). Comparing measures of lexical richness. In H. Daller, J. Milton, & J. Treffers-Daller (Eds.), Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge (pp. 93–116). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Huttenlocher, J., Haight, W., Bryk, A., Seltzer, M., & Lyons, Th. (1991). Early vocabulary growth: relation to language input and gender. Developmental Psychology, 271, 236–248.
Jarvis, S. (2002). Short texts, best-fitting curves and new measures of lexical diversity. Language Testing, 19 (1), 57–84.
Just, M.A., & Carpenter, P.A. (1987). The psychology of reading and language comprehension. Newton, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon.
Kuperman, V., & Van Dyke, J.A. (2013). Reassessing word frequency as a determinant of word recognition for skilled and unskilled readers. Journal of Experimental Psychology Human Perception & Performance, 39(3), 802–823.
Laufer, B., & Nation, I. (1995). Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics, 161, 307–322.
MacWhinney, B. (2000). The CHILDES project: Tools for analyzing talk (3rd edition). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Malvern, D., & Richards, B. (2002). Investigating accommodation in language proficiency interviews using a new measure of lexical diversity. Language Testing, 19(1), 85–104.
Meara, P., & Bell, H. (2001). P_Lex: A simple and effective way of describing the lexical characteristics of short L2 texts. Prospect, 16(3), 5–19.
Orlov, J. (1982). Ein Model der Häufigskeitsstruktur des Vokabulars. In H. Guiter & M. Arapov (Eds.), Studies on Zipf’s Law (pp. 154–233). Bochum: Brockmeyer.
Pander Maat, H.L.W., & Kraf, R. (2009). Leesbaarheidsonderzoek: oude problemen, nieuwe kansen. Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing, 31(2), 97–123.
Richards, B., & Malvern, D. (2007). Validity and threats to the validity of vocabury measurement. In H. Daller, J. Milton, & J. Treffers-Daller (Eds.), Modelling and assessing vocabulary knowledge (pp. 79–92). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schrooten, W., & Vermeer, A. (1994). Woorden in het basisonderwijs. 15.000 woorden aangeboden aan leerlingen. Tilburg: Tilburg University Press. Via: [URL]
Staphorsius, G. (1994). Leesbaarheid en leesvaardigheid. De ontwikkeling van een domeingericht meetinstrument. Arnhem: Cito.
Tellings, A., Hulsbosch, M., Vermeer, A., & Bosch, A van den. (2014). BasiLex, an 11.5 million words corpus of Dutch texts written for children. Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands Journal, 41, 191–208.
Verhoeven, L., Leeuwe, J. van, & Vermeer, A. (2011). Vocabulary growth and reading development across the elementary school years. Scientific Studies of Reading, 151, 8–25.
Vermeer, A. (1986). Tempo en struktuur van tweede-taalverwerving bij Turkse en Marokkaanse kinderen. Proefschrift, Universiteit van Tilburg.
. (2004a). The relation between lexical richness and vocabulary size in Dutch L1 and L2 children. In P. Bogaards & B. Laufer (Eds.), Vocabulary in a second language (pp. 173–189). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. (2004b). MLR: Maat voor Lexicale Rijkdom/Measure of Lexical Richness. Via: [URL]
Vermeer, A., & Ceglarek, J. (te verschijnen 2016). Development of qualifiers in children’s written stories. In E. Segers & P. van den Broek (Eds.), Title tba. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Werf, R. van der, & Vermeer, A. (2008). Online kranten, een model van de (tweede-) taalleerder en het genereren van adaptief lesmateriaal. Toegepaste Taalwetenschap in Artikelen, 801, 49–61.