Part of
Measuring Native-Speaker Vocabulary SizeI.S.P. Nation and Averil Coxhead
[Not in series 233] 2021
► pp. ix–xi
I.S.P. Nation and Averil Coxhead
[Not in series 233] 2021
► pp. ix–xi
Detailed table of contents
Chapter 1.Introduction
1
Why test the vocabulary size of native-speakers of English?
1
The history of vocabulary size measurement
2
How many words does a native-speaker know, how quickly does their
vocabulary grow, and what influences this growth?
3
What methodological decisions affect these size and rate of growth
estimates?
4
Increasing vocabulary size
5
Chapter 2.The productive vocabulary sizes of young native-speakers of English
7
Measuring total vocabulary size
7
Measuring productive vocabulary size
8
The productive total vocabulary size of young children
8
Can spoken output be used to measure vocabulary knowledge?
10
Is the cumulative number of types a good way to measure vocabulary
growth?
12
Is it possible to do data-gathering of a child’s output at various
intervals to show vocabulary growth?
13
Critiques of particular studies
14
Chapter 3.Dictionary-based studies of vocabulary size
19
Thorndike’s review (1924)
19
Later reviews (1930s to 1960s)
21
Procedures for drawing a representative sample from a dictionary
22
Examples of the effects of not applying the steps
29
An example of applying the steps
32
Chapter 4.The receptive vocabulary sizes of young native-speakers of English
35
Edward thorndike
35
Biemiller (2005) and Biemiller and Slonim’s (2001) studies
36
The picture vocabulary size test
38
Chapter 5.The vocabulary sizes of native-speakers of English in secondary
school
45
The vocabulary size test
45
The BNC/COCA lists
46
Using the vocabulary size test in New Zealand secondary schools
47
The role of test-taking effort
48
Chapter 6.Frequency-list based studies of adult native-speakers’ vocabulary
size
53
Test your own wordpower
53
Using several forms of the same test
56
A massive online measure of English vocabulary knowledge
58
Data gathered from online versions of the vocabulary size test
60
Some speculations
61
Chapter 7.Factors affecting native-speaker vocabulary size and growth
63
The conditions affecting vocabulary learning
63
A model of factors affecting vocabulary size and growth
65
Age and the statistical nature of vocabulary
66
Factors affecting variation between individuals in their rate of
vocabulary growth
69
Some well-researched causal chains
73
An overview of factors affecting vocabulary size and growth
78
Chapter 8.Supporting native-speaker vocabulary growth
79
Toddlers and pre-school
79
Primary school
82
Secondary school
89
Supporting vocabulary growth in adults
96
Chapter 9.Measures and item types used to estimate native-speaker vocabulary
size
99
Using spoken output to measure vocabulary size and growth
100
Measuring receptive vocabulary size
102
What do scores on different vocabulary test item formats mean?
102
Issues with multiple-choice measures
104
Issues with Yes/No measures
105
Issues with meaning-recall (interview) measures
107
What kind of knowledge should a test of vocabulary size measure?
109
Chapter 10.Creating a vocabulary size test
115
The steps involved in measuring vocabulary size
115
Chapter 11.Needed research and some final thoughts
125
Vocabulary growth
126
The vocabulary gap
127
1.Developing research tools
128
2.Improving the methodology of vocabulary size research
128
3.Answering research questions on native-speaker vocabulary size and
growth
129
4.Using the data from vocabulary size tests
130
The future of vocabulary size testing
130
Appendix 1Instructions for individual test administration for research assistants
133
Appendix 2Vocabulary size test feedback sheet for scores over 10,000 words
135
Appendix 3The vocabularies of school pupils (Thorndike, 1924)
137
References
143
Index
155
