Comparing the AWL and AVL in Textbooks from an Intensive English Program

• Main Author: Hernandez, Michelle Morgan
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2017
• Subjects: Academic Vocabulary; Academic Word List; AWL; Academic Vocabulary List; AVL; Intensive English Program; Corpus; Linguistics
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6458; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7458&context=etd

Academic vocabulary is an important determiner of academic success for both native and non-native speakers of English (Corson, 1997; Gardner, 2013; Hsueh-chao & Nation, 2000). In an attempt to address this need, Coxhead (2000) developed the Academic Word List (AWL)—a list of words common across a range of academic disciplines; however, Gardner & Davies (2014) identified potential limitations in the AWL and have more recently produced their own list of core academic vocabulary—the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL). This study compares the occurrences of the AWL and AVL word families in an intensive English program (IEP) corpus of 50 texts to determine which list has the best overall coverage, frequency, and range in the corpus. While the results show a strong presence of both lists in the IEP corpus, the AVL outperforms the AWL in every measure analyzed in the study. Suggestions for instruction and future research regarding these lists are provided.