A lexical corpus based analysis of L2 academic vocabulary

Abstract

English proficiency tests are devised to assess student readiness for higher academic studies and to maintain institutional standards. Internationally, standardized tests are required by the majority of universities. However, with the increase in in-house English tests as an option in both L1 and L2 environments, the validity of measured parameters (such as writing) becomes an issue of urgent concern. Research has indicated that investigation of active vocabulary in student writing is one way to address this question. Thus, this study profiles vocabulary in 103 essays (29,077 words) written by L1 Arabic speakers in a 'low' academic English proficiency course, as quantified by an I-house university English entrance exam (EEE) at an English medium university in Lebanon. Lexical vocabulary profiling (LVP) was carries out using Lextutor tools (available at www.lextutor.ca). Although the findings indicate consistent vocabulary use across the studied corpus, active vocabulary levels (K1, K2, and AWL lists) are not on par with the vocabulary profiles set by the international standardized admissions tests as predictors of academic success. Recommendations are made to explicitly teach academic vocabulary.