A Survey of Issues, Practices and Views Related to Corpus-based Word Lists for English Language Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Word lists have been recognized as a valuable pedagogical resource that can be used by language teachers and learners, materials developers and syllabus designers to identify vocabulary that needs attention. The increase in the accessibility of electronic corpora and the recent advances in corpus software tools has led to a proliferation of various types of corpus-based word lists informed by frequency counts, in some cases combined with other measures. However, there is a lack of research into how word lists are used in real pedagogical contexts. This exploratory study explores current practices and views related to the exploitation, construction, and evaluation of corpus-based word lists for English language teaching and learning purposes. The survey results indicate that word lists are used for a variety of purposes and in different settings, and that the context and goals for use of the word list should determine the nature of the list. Furthermore, while word lists are thought to be useful, several factors need to be considered to ensure successful implementation of lists into pedagogical contexts. Finally, the survey captured misuses and misconceptions of word lists that practitioners need to be aware of.