The vocabulary demands and vocabulary learning opportunities in short novels

Abstract

Extensive reading can be an effective way of improving reading fluency and acquiring new vocabulary for EFL learners if the conditions for learning are favourable. Two key conditions are that the text be comprehensible to the reader, and that the text contain some new words that appear frequently. A computer analysis was made of the vocabulary used in three short novels to determine their suitability for EFL learning. It was found that learners who have mastered a general service vocabulary of the most frequent 2,000 words in English would be able to adequately comprehend only the most favourable texts. This vocabulary size is assumed to be the goal of EFL high school graduates. Furthermore, reading would be frustrating due to the large presence of unfamiliar words. A much larger vocabulary size then 2,000 words is required for pleasurable reading. Some new words appear frequently enough in each text for a reader to be able to guess their meaning from context, and thus learners would enlarge their vocabularies from reading short novels. However, there is no significant easing of the reading difficulty of a text as a result of this vocabulary acquisition. The consequence of the findings is that many short novels would not be very suitable for EFL learners with a general service vocabulary of 2,000 words. There is an apparent need for graded readers at levels beyond 2,000 words, to provide extensive reading material for learners who have mastered a general service vocabulary, and who are not yet ready to read unsimplified novels.