View in EDS

Swedish TEFL Meets Reality.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Swedish TEFL Meets Reality.
Language: English
Authors: Ljung, Magnus
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 1991
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Basic Vocabulary, Comparative Analysis, English, Foreign Countries, Second Languages, Secondary Education, Textbook Content, Textbook Evaluation, Textbook Research, Word Frequency
Geographic Terms: Sweden
Abstract: The work reported in this paper is an offshoot of a project started in early 1986 and designed to produce a comparison between the vocabulary in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) texts and the vocabulary found in contemporary non-technical English writing. This study investigated the unique words and differences in frequency between shared words in two large corpora, the GYM corpus (from "gymnasium" the Swedish term for upper secondary education) and the COBUILD corpus, a huge collection of machine readable English texts collected at the University of Birmingham (England). The GYM corpus was created by converting the nearly 1.5 million words in 56 English TEFL texts used in Swedish upper secondary education into computer-readable form. The COBUILD corpus contains 18 million words used in the development of the COBUILD dictionary. Comparison of the 1000 most frequently used words in the two corpora indicated that they have 796 words in common. Comparison of the unique words indicate that: (1) words unique to the GYM corpus are concrete terms denoting physical objects and processes, physical characteristics, and emotions; and (2) words found only in the COBUILD corpus are predominantly abstract. Comparison of the words in both corpora indicated a larger number of contractions and use of third person pronouns in the GYM corpus than in the COBUILD corpus, indicating a preponderance of narrative text in the GYM corpus. Findings suggest that it is in fact possible to obtain a fair amount of information about texts merely by looking at word lists. (Seven tables of data are included; 13 references are attached.) (RS)
Entry Date: 1992
Accession Number: ED343133
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
  Availability: 0
CustomLinks:
  – Url: https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED343133
    Name: ERIC Full Text
    Category: fullText
    Text: Full Text from ERIC
Header DbId: eric
DbLabel: ERIC
An: ED343133
AccessLevel: 3
PubType: Report
PubTypeId: report
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Swedish TEFL Meets Reality.
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ljung%2C+Magnus%22">Ljung, Magnus</searchLink>
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: N
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 18
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 1991
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Reports - Research
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Basic+Vocabulary%22">Basic Vocabulary</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+Analysis%22">Comparative Analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English%22">English</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Second+Languages%22">Second Languages</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Content%22">Textbook Content</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Evaluation%22">Textbook Evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Research%22">Textbook Research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Word+Frequency%22">Word Frequency</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sweden%22">Sweden</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: The work reported in this paper is an offshoot of a project started in early 1986 and designed to produce a comparison between the vocabulary in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) texts and the vocabulary found in contemporary non-technical English writing. This study investigated the unique words and differences in frequency between shared words in two large corpora, the GYM corpus (from "gymnasium" the Swedish term for upper secondary education) and the COBUILD corpus, a huge collection of machine readable English texts collected at the University of Birmingham (England). The GYM corpus was created by converting the nearly 1.5 million words in 56 English TEFL texts used in Swedish upper secondary education into computer-readable form. The COBUILD corpus contains 18 million words used in the development of the COBUILD dictionary. Comparison of the 1000 most frequently used words in the two corpora indicated that they have 796 words in common. Comparison of the unique words indicate that: (1) words unique to the GYM corpus are concrete terms denoting physical objects and processes, physical characteristics, and emotions; and (2) words found only in the COBUILD corpus are predominantly abstract. Comparison of the words in both corpora indicated a larger number of contractions and use of third person pronouns in the GYM corpus than in the COBUILD corpus, indicating a preponderance of narrative text in the GYM corpus. Findings suggest that it is in fact possible to obtain a fair amount of information about texts merely by looking at word lists. (Seven tables of data are included; 13 references are attached.) (RS)
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 1992
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: ED343133
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=ED343133
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 18
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Basic Vocabulary
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Comparative Analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: English
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Second Languages
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Content
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Evaluation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Word Frequency
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sweden
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Swedish TEFL Meets Reality.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Ljung, Magnus
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 1991
ResultId 1