| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 英語學系 === 88 === Abstract
The study aims to rate the readability of the English teaching magazines for broadcasting in terms of word frequency so that learners will be able to choose a more suitable magazine to improve their English. In addition, it will offer important and useful information for the publishers not only for compiling English materials, but also for adjusting the readability of the texts in terms of vocabulary, if their magazines are intended for a particular group of readers or audience.
Six English teaching magazines published in January through December in 1999 were analyzed in the study: Everyone''s American English (EAE), English Digest (ED), Landmark English (ED), Let''s Talk in English (LTIE), Basic Studio Classroom (BSC), and Advanced Studio Classroom (ASC). Besides, the new versions of the Junior High School English Textbooks (JHSET), the old versions of the Senior High School English Textbooks (SHSET), the Brown Corpus, and the LOB Corpus function as the comparative corpora to the six English Teaching Magazines. The following are the findings of this study.
(1) In terms of graphic word types, ASC had the largest number of graphic word types,
ED the second, LE the third, BSC the fourth, EAE the fifth, and LTIE the sixth.
(2) Of the six English teaching magazines, the overlapping percentages of the first 100 and of 1,000 graphic word types between the new versions of the JHSET and ED were most significantly different, while the overlapping percentages of the first 500 graphic word types between the JHSET and LTIE were most significantly different. The most significant differences between the JHSET and ED and those between the JHSET and LTIE lie in the fact that they all contained a lot of more colloquial written texts.
(3) Of the six English teaching magazines, the overlapping percentages of the first 100 graphic word types between the old versions of the SHSET and ASC were most significantly different, while the overlapping percentages of the first 500 and of 1,000 graphic word types between the SHSET and BSC were most significantly different. The most significant differences between the SHSET and ASC and those between SHSET and BSC lie in the fact that they all contained a lot of more formal written texts.
(4) Of the six English teaching magazines, the overlapping percentages of the first 100, 500, and 1,000 graphic word types between the Brown Corpus and ASC were most significantly different. And the overlapping percentages of the first 100 and of 500 graphic word types between the LOB Corpus and ASC were most significantly different. The most significant differences between the Brown Corpus and ASC and those between the LOB Corpus and ASC lie in the fact that they all contained a lot of more formal written texts.
Based on the proportions of different word types at different frequency levels, Let''s Talk in English is suitable for the first-year senior high school students. For junior high school students, it is a bit difficult and challenging. Basic Studio Classroom and Everyone''s American English are more suitable for the second- and third-year junior high school students. Landmark English and English Digest are for college students and senior high students with a better command of English. Regarding Advanced Studio Classroom, it is too difficult for senior high school students, but it is suitable for college students and graduates.
|
|---|
