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When designing a textbook there are many elements that need to be taken into consideration. Authenticity of language, range and relevance of topics are but a few examples. What I want to shed light upon in this post is frequency of vocabulary as a criterion. The English language has more than 50-thousand-word families. Not all these words are of equal importance. Some are more important than others. Frequently used words, for example, are more communicatively important than rare and infrequently used words. When designing a textbook, especially for beginner levels, this criterion of frequency needs to be taken into consideration.
I took the time to analyze the textbooks that we use in our classrooms, with our students, to see if these frequent words are well represented or not. I prepared, scanned, and analyzed three textbooks from three different educational levels. These were the results.
outlook for common core:
57.3% of frequent words are missing from the textbook.
gateway 1:
54.3% of frequent words missing from the textbook.
gateway 2:
58.6% of the frequent words are missing from the textbook.
These numbers suggest that the most frequent words, although critical for communication according to both linguistic and psycho-linguistic research, are underrepresented.
This under representation can be explained by the fact that textbook designers rely on other criteria to select vocabulary to be used in a textbook. These criteria could be theme-based or unit-related. With that being said, it is still highly necessary that students get exposed to the most frequent words, especially at earlier levels.
As a way to remedy this shortage, I have prepared a list of missing words (for Outlook). This list could be used by teachers to supplement the shortage found in textbooks. The word list can provide the basis for teacher-made materials and worksheets.
I hope the word-list is of use to you and your students.
Apologies for the long post.
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