Towards the Development of a Word List for English Newspapers

Main Article Content

Mostafa Saeedi
Reza Khany
Khalil Tazik

Abstract

Vocabulary knowledge has been recognized as a crucial component in learning and teaching of both native and non-native learners, text understanding, and educational success (Coxhead, 2018; Saeedi et al., 2023; Schmitt et al., 2021), leading to the development of word lists for different purposes. Hence, this study aimed at developing a newspaper word list including the most frequent words which are highly applicable and useful for understanding different sections of English newspapers. In doing so, a corpus of 1,221,970 words was compiled and analyzed. Based on the three criteria, i.e., frequency, range, and specialization, a word list containing 858-word families was obtained. A combination of the current word list and the general words accounted for 94.64% of tokens (the total number of running words) in the corpus. The results have practical applications for EFL/ESL (English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language) learners as well as readers and writers of English newspapers.

Article Details

How to Cite
Saeedi, M., Khany, R., & Tazik, K. (2023). Towards the Development of a Word List for English Newspapers. REFLections, 30(2), 506–525. https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v30i2.267504
Section
Research articles

References

Agility PR Solutions. (2022, July). Top 10 US newspapers by circulation. https://www.agilitypr.com/resources/topmedia-outlets/top-10-daily-american-newspapers/

Bell, A. (1995). Language and the media. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 15, 23-41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190500002592

Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., Finegan, E., & Quirk, R. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Longman.

Bonin, G., Filip, D., Annik, D., Stefan, M., Heather, R., Vittoria, S., Ivor, Sh., Olivier, S., & Vinzenz, W. (2017). Quelle différence? Journalism Studies, 18(5), 536–554. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2016.1272065

Brezina, V., & Gablasova, D. (2015). Is there a core general vocabulary? Introducing the new general service list. Applied Linguistics, 36(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt018

Browne, C. (2013). The new general service list: Celebrating 60 years of vocabulary learning. The Language Teacher, 4(37), 13–16. https://jalt-publications.org/files/pdf-article/37.4tlt_featureds.pdf

Carpenter, J. C., & Ekdale, B. (2019). Service at the intersection of journalism, language, and the global imaginary. Journalism Studies, 20(1), 136-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1370975

Carpenter, J. C., & Sosale, S. (2019). The role of language in a journalistic interpretive community: Building on Indonesia’s “biggest scoop ever”. Journalism Practice, 13(3), 280-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2018.1463865

Carvalho, A. (2008). Media (TED) discourse and society. Journalism Studies, 9(2), 161-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700701848162

Chen, Q., & Ge, G. C. (2007). A corpus-based lexical study on frequency and distribution of Coxhead’s AWL word families in medical research articles (RAs). English for Specific Purposes, 26(4), 502-514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2007.04.003

Chung, M. (2009). The newspaper word list: A specialised vocabulary for reading newspapers. JALT Journal, 31(2), 159-182.

Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213-238. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587951

Coxhead, A. (2018). Vocabulary and English for specific purposes research: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Routledge.

Coxhead, A., & Hirsch, D. (2007). A pilot science-specific word list. Revue Française de Linguistique Appliquée, 12(2), 65-78.

DeRoche, E. F., & Skover, L. B. (1983). Newspapers for teaching and learning reading. Newspaper Research Journal, 4(2), 23-30.

Fairclough, N. (1995). Media discourse. Edward Arnold.

Fer, S. (2018). The language of journalism: Particularities and interpretation of its coexistence with other languages. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3128134

Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2014). A new academic vocabulary list. Applied Linguistics, 35(3), 305-327. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt015

Hu, M., & Nation, P. (2000). Unknown vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, 13(1), 403-430. https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/item-detail/43

Hsu, W. (2014). Measuring the vocabulary load of engineering textbooks for EFL undergraduates. English for Specific Purposes, 33, 54-65. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2013.07.001

Jacob, G., & Tobback, E. (2013). Is language a news value in Belgium? Journalism Studies, 14(3), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2012.699345

Hyland, K., & Tse, P. (2007). Is there an “academic vocabulary”? TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 235-253. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1545-7249.2007.tb00058.x

Khani, R., & Saeedi, M. (2017). Material development and English for academic purposes word lists; a reductionist approach. The Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 9(19), 53-72. https://ensani.ir/fa/article/374064/material-development-and-english-for-academic-purposes-word-lists-a-reductionistapproach

Khani, R., & Tazik, K. (2013). Towards the development of an academic word list for applied linguistics research articles. RELC Journal, 44(2), 209-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688213488432

Klinmanee, N., & Sopprasong, L. (1997). Bridging the EFL vocabulary gap between secondary school and university: A Thai case study. Guidelines: A Periodical for Classroom Language Teachers, 19(1), 1-10.

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis. Sage.

Kyongho, H., & Nation, P. (1989). Reducing the vocabulary load and encouraging vocabulary learning through reading newspapers. Reading in a Foreign Language, 6(1), 323-335. https://nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/item/477

Malmström, H., Pecorari, D., & Shaw, P. (2018). Words for what? Contrasting university students’ receptive and productive academic vocabulary needs. English for Specific Purposes, 50, 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2017.11.002

Moirand, J., & Nation, P. (2002). Learner’s use of strategies for effective language learning. Prospect, 17(1), 23-35.

Mudraya, O. (2006). Engineering English: A lexical frequency instructional model. English for Specific Purposes, 25(2), 235-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.05.002

Muñoz, V. L. (2015). The vocabulary of agriculture semi-popularization articles in English: A corpus-based study. English for Specific Purposes, 39, 26-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2015.04.001

Nagy, W. E. (1988). Teaching vocabulary to improve reading comprehension. International Reading Association.

Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.63.1.59

Nation, P., & Heatley, A. (2007). Range, and frequency programs. http://www.vuw.ac.nz/lals/staff/paul-nation/nation.aspx

Nation, P., & Sorell, C. J. (2016). Corpus selection and design. In I. S. P. Nation (Ed.), Making and using word lists for language learning and testing (pp. 95-105). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Nation, P., & Waring, R. (1997). Vocabulary size, text coverage, and word lists. In N. Schmit & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 6-19). Cambridge University Press.

Paquot, M. (2007). Towards a productively-oriented academic word list. In J. Walinski, K. Kredens & S. Gozdz-Roszkowski (Eds.), Practical applications in language and computers 2005 (pp. 127–140). Peter Lang.

Saeedi, M., Khany, R., & Tazik, K. (2023). Research themes and sub-themes in academic wordlist studies between 2000 and 2020: A systematic review. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 14(1), 95-111. https://doi.org/10.22055/rals.2023.18070

Schroder, K. (2002). Discourses of fact. In K. B. Jensen (Ed.), Handbook of media and communication research (pp. 98-116). Routledge.

Scott, M., & Tribble, C. (2006). Textual patterns: Key words and corpus analysis in language. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Schmitt, N., & Carter, R. (2000). The lexical advantages of narrow reading for second language learners. TESOL Journal, 9(1), 4-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1949-3533.2000.tb00220.x

Schmitt, N., Dunn, K., O’Sullivan, B., Anthony, L., & Kremmel, B. (2021). Introducing knowledge-based vocabulary lists (KVL). TESOL Journal, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.622

Sternfeld, S. (1989). The university of Utah’s immersion/multiliteracy program: An example of an area studies approach to the design of first-year college foreign language instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 22(4), 341-352.

Todd, R. W. (2017). An opaque engineering word list: Which words should a teacher focus on? English for Specific Purposes, 45, 31-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2016.08.003

Valipouri, L., & Nassaji, H. (2013). A corpus-based study of academic vocabulary in chemistry research articles. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(4), 248-263. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2013.07.001

Van Dijk, T. (1988). News analysis: Case studies of international and national news in the press. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Wang, J., Liang, S. L., & Ge, G. C. (2008). Establishment of a medical academic word list. English for Specific Purposes, 27(4), 442-458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2008.05.003

Ward, J. (2009). A basic engineering English word list for less proficient foundation engineering undergraduates. English for Specific Purposes, 28(3), 170-182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2009.04.001

West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. Longman.

Xodabande, I., & Xodabande, N. (2020). Academic vocabulary in psychology research articles: A corpus-based study. MEXTESOL Journal, 44(3), 1-21.

Yang, M. N. (2015). A nursing academic word list. English for Specific Purposes, 37, 27-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2014.05.003

YouGov (2023). The most popular newspapers in the UK. https://yougov.co.uk/ratings/entertainment/popularity/newspaper/all

Zhu, J. (2017). The technical vocabulary of newspapers [Master’s thesis, University of Western Ontario]. Scholarship@Western: Electronic Thesis and Dissertation. Repository. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4872