This corpus-based research analysed three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and
cohesion) in English argumentative writing and examined the potential differences in lexical performance (1) between native and
nonnative English writers and (2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The findings revealed that nonnative
English writers demonstrated significantly lower performance in lexical sophistication than did native English writers.
Significant differences in all three lexical aspects exist between writers from different language backgrounds. Pedagogical
implications for vocabulary instruction in academic writing for nonnative writers include emphasizing the mastery of academic,
low-frequency, and discipline-specific vocabulary. Additionally, improving nonnative writers’ vocabulary size and lexical
diversity is essential for building deeper level cohesion in writing. The results suggest unique writing characteristics of
different nonnative writers and their varied learner needs should be acknowledged. Thus, targeted instruction is essential to
provide effective enhancement to nonnative English writers’ lexical performance in academic writing.
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