ERIC Number: EJ728127
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jun
Pages: 23
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-6001
EISSN: N/A
Developmental Trends in Lexical Diversity
Duran, Pilar; Malvern, David; Richards, Brian; Chipere, Ngoni
Applied Linguistics, v25 n2 p220-242 Jun 2004
This article discusses issues in measuring lexical diversity, before outlining an approach based on mathematical modelling that produces a measure, D, designed to address these problems. The procedure for obtaining values for D directly from transcripts using software (vocd) is introduced, and then applied to thirty-two children from the Bristol Study of Language Development (Wells 1985) at ten different ages. A significant developmental trend is shown for D and an indication is given of the average scores and ranges to be expected between the ages of 18 and 42 months and at 5 years for these L1 English speakers. The meaning attributable to further ranges of values for D is illustrated by analysing the lexical diversity of academic writing, and its wider application is demonstrated with examples from specific language impairment, morphological development, and foreign/second language learning.
Descriptors: Mathematical Models, Applied Linguistics, Language Acquisition, Academic Discourse, Age Differences, Children, Computer Software, Trend Analysis, Foreign Countries, Second Language Learning, Child Development
Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP UK. Tel: +44 1865-353907; Fax: +44 1865-353485; e-mail: jnls.cust.serv@oxfordjournals.org; Web site: http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (Bristol)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A