A corpus-based lexical study of the frequency, coverage and distribution of academic vocabulary in Islamic academic research articles

Mohamed Ismail , Ahamed Shah and Engku Ibrahim, Engku Haliza and Mayinuer, Abudukeremu (2011) A corpus-based lexical study of the frequency, coverage and distribution of academic vocabulary in Islamic academic research articles. In: International Language Conference 2011, 22-24 April, 2011, International Islamic University Malaysia. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

One of the main problems faced by both teachers and learners in English for Academic Purposes pertains to the question of which words are worth focusing during teaching and learning. This corpus-based lexical study aimed to explore the use of words in Coxhead’s (2000) ‘A New Academic Word List (AWL)’ in academic journal articles in the field of Islamic studies. Around 472,621 word corpus, called the Islamic Academic Research Articles (IARA) corpus, was created for this study. The corpus consisted of 66 research articles written in English that were published in more than 10 different Islamic academic journals. Authentic and academic research articles written on Islam, and from Islamic perspectives covering a wide range of topics, were selected. The study found that the most frequent 317 AWL words which occurred in the IARA corpus was only 56% of Coxhead’s AWL of 570. This finding points to the need for a special AWL for students. Findings suggest the need to produce field-specific academic word lists incorporating all frequent academic lexical items necessary for the expression of the rhetoric of the specific research area. Findings also revealed that some of the words which were found in the present study were not found in Coxhead’s Academic Word List. This may be due to the general nature of the AWL. This suggests that vocabulary needs of students in Islamic studies are characteristically different from those of students in other disciplines. Researchers and teachers therefore need to deal with these learners separately.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Invited Papers)
Additional Information:	5655/1240
Uncontrolled Keywords:	English for Academic Purposes (EAP), Corpus Based Study, Islamic Academic Research Articles Corpus (IARAC), Word Family
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education P Language and Literature > PE English
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Centre for Languages and Pre-University Academic Development (CELPAD) Centre for Languages and Pre-University Academic Development (CELPAD) > English Language Division
Depositing User:	Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim
Date Deposited:	20 Sep 2011 15:14
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2020 16:22
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/1240

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