An Investigation into the Use of Frequency Vocabulary Lists in University Intensive English Programs

Abstract

The use of vocabulary frequency lists in English language teaching and learning has been an area of continued research for roughly the past 170 years. There has been an increased focus on these lists in the last 25 years with a number of new and revised lists being developed, with three in 2013 alone. However, there has been comparatively little focus on how these lists are utilized. In order to cast light on this area, this exploratory study focuses on the extent of the use of these lists in university intensive English programs and shows that there is a substantial belief in the use of these lists, despite a number of limitations, and that they were used by a majority of the programs surveyed. Coxhead’s Academic Word List was the most used list by far, but a range of lists was used depending upon the individual programs. Summaries of four individual programs and areas for future research are discussed.