2018 UNDERSTANDING VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TEACHING: IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Article Vocabulary coverage and lexical characteristics in L2 Spanish textbooks

Authors
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Claudia; Miguel, Nausica Marcos; Olsen, Michael K.
Volume
2018 UNDERSTANDING VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TEACHING: IMPLICATIONS FOR LANGUAGE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Date Issued
2018-01-01
Keywords
Publisher
Cengage
URI/DOI
10125/69783
PDF
Citation
Sánchez-Gutiérrez, C., Miguel, N.M., Olsen, M.K. (2018). Vocabulary coverage and lexical characteristics in L2 Spanish textbooks. The American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators and Directors of Foreign Languages Programs (AAUSC), 78-98. http://hdl.handle.net/102015/69783
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Abstract
This chapter reports on a study that examined the vocabulary coverage of elementary and intermediate Spanish textbooks used in U.S. universities, as well as the lexical characteristics of the words they contain. Concretely, glossaries from 16 textbooks were analyzed to determine the coverage of words found among the 3,000 most frequent words in Spanish, the length and concreteness of the words, and the development of these characteristics between elementary and intermediate textbooks. Results indicate that textbook vocabulary generally does not represent the most frequent words in Spanish and that words in intermediate textbooks are significantly longer and less concrete than words in elementary textbooks. According to these findings, language program directors and teachers should complement textbook glossaries with words drawn from the 3,000 most frequent words of the target language as well as incorporate techniques that ease the learning burden of long and abstract words. This analysis can also guide textbook authors on how to improve vocabulary selection for their textbooks.