Luo Guihua, Song Jiamiao, Wu Jingjing
College of Foreign Languages, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Institute of Language Sciences, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 30;19(12):e0315975. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315975. eCollection 2024.
Vocabulary is essential for comprehension, especially in specialized disciplines. However, the research on the lexical features of forestry remains underexplored. This study focuses on the vocabulary frequency profile of forestry academic texts, and compares forestry vocabulary with general vocabulary and general academic vocabulary. Using Range software and the BNC/COCA word lists, this research analyzed a corpus of 331 research articles and 14 textbooks across eight forestry sub-disciplines. Results demonstrate a rich and diverse vocabulary in this discipline. Two forestry-specific word lists, the forestry Latin loan word list and the forestry English word list, were developed from words not included in the BNC/COCA word lists. The analysis indicates that mastering the top 5,000 word families and four supplementary word lists from the expanded BNC/COCA word lists provides 95% lexical coverage of the forestry academic corpus. For 98% coverage, prioritizing the two forestry-specific word lists reduces the required word families from 11,000 to 8,000. While both forestry research articles and textbooks need 5,000 word families for 95% coverage, research articles require an additional 2,000 for 98% coverage. Lexical demands across sub-disciplines range from 4,000 to 6,000 word families for 95% coverage, and from 8,000 to 11,000 for 98% when including the forestry-specific word lists. Furthermore, findings also indicate that the forestry vocabulary contains a higher proportion of mid- and low-frequency words than general vocabulary and general academic vocabulary. These findings provide important guidance for setting vocabulary learning goals and sequences for learners in the forestry discipline, thereby contributing to improved comprehension of forestry academic texts and enhancing the effectiveness of English for Specific Purposes instruction.
词汇对于理解至关重要,尤其是在专业学科中。然而,关于林业词汇特征的研究仍未得到充分探索。本研究聚焦于林业学术文本的词汇频率分布,并将林业词汇与普通词汇和一般学术词汇进行比较。利用Range软件以及BNC/COCA词表,本研究分析了涵盖八个林业子学科的331篇研究文章和14本教材的语料库。结果表明该学科的词汇丰富多样。从BNC/COCA词表中未包含的词汇中编制了两份特定于林业的词表,即林业拉丁语外来词表和林业英语词表。分析表明,掌握扩展后的BNC/COCA词表中的前5000个词族和四个补充词表,可为林业学术语料库提供95%的词汇覆盖率。要达到98%的覆盖率,优先使用两份特定于林业的词表可将所需的词族数量从11000个减少到8000个。虽然林业研究文章和教材达到95%的覆盖率都需要5000个词族,但研究文章要达到98%的覆盖率还需要额外的2000个词族。各子学科的词汇需求在达到95%的覆盖率时为4000至6000个词族,在包括特定于林业的词表时达到98%的覆盖率则为8000至11000个词族。此外,研究结果还表明,林业词汇中低频和中频词汇的比例高于普通词汇和一般学术词汇。这些发现为林业学科的学习者设定词汇学习目标和顺序提供了重要指导,从而有助于提高对林业学术文本的理解,并增强专门用途英语教学的有效性。