Words that Second Language Learners Are Likely to Hear, Read, and Use

• Published in: Bilingualism (Cambridge, England) Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 133 - 146
• Main Authors: Davidson, Douglas J, Indefrey, Peter, Gullberg, Marianne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press 01-03-2008
• Subjects: Computational Linguistics; Language Research; Oral Language; Prediction; Second Language Learning; Textbooks; Word Frequency
• ISSN: 1366-7289
• DOI: 10.1017/S1366728907003264

In the present study, we explore whether multiple data sources may be more effective than single sources at predicting the words that language learners are likely to know. Second language researchers have hypothesized that there is a relationship between word frequency and the likelihood that words will be encountered or used by second language learners, but it is not yet clear how this relationship should be effectively measured. An analysis of word frequency measures showed that spoken language frequency alone may predict the occurrence of words in learner textbooks, but that multiple corpora as well as textbook status can improve predictions of learner usage.