Oxford Wordlist ResearchStage 2

An investigation of high frequency words in Years 3 and 4 students’ writing development

Conducted in 2009

• 404 most frequently used words• Words in common / words unique• Foundation list

Publishing the list

Summary Report - Anne Bayetto

www.oup.com.au/thesuccessfulteacher

www.oxfordwordlist.com

Speaking our Language: The Story of Australian English

Bruce Moore

“...of all the markers of identity, language is by far the most significant. This language we speak, which gives voice to our Australian identity is not, however, a uni-faceted thing. It is...a multi-faceted entity. Australian English is central to the process of giving voice to our Australian identity: in important ways, we are WHAT we speak, and we are HOW we speak.”

•896 students•2688 samples •315 345 words

Statistics

Year 3 Year 41437 (479 students) 1251 (417 students)

School Year (this equates to 4th and 5th year of formal schooling)

GenderMale Female

1332 (444 students) 1356 (452 students)

School SettingLow SES Mid SES High SES

1170 (390 students) 516 (172 students) 1002 (334 students)

LocationRural Urban

537 (179 students) 2151 (717 students)

Language Background

Indigenous

Rural = 20% of total

45 (15 students)= 1.7% of total

English Speaking (ESB) Non-English speaking (NESB)1629 (543 students) 1059 (353 students)

Demographics

P/K/R Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 421 51 78 104 133

Average word count per sample

Year 3%

Year 4%No. of words

<50 13.8 8.950 – 99 41.5 28.9100 – 199 38.0 45.8200 – 299 6.0 13.1300 – 400 <1.0 2.5>400 <1.0 <1.0

Word count spread

Word Counts

Text Types1st year - Yr 4

P/K/R%

Year 1%

Year 2%

Year 3%

Year 4%

Narrative 17 31 48 55.6 58.9Recount 58 50 40 25.1 22.8Description 15 7.2 5.6 10.6 10.6Discussion 0 <1 0 <1 <1Explanation <1 <1 <1 0 0Exposition <1 2.1 1.3 1.0 2.8Info Report 5.3 6 3.1 <1 1.3Poetry <1 0 <1 2.3 1.0Procedure <1 <1 <1 2.6 1.0Response 3.4 1.7 <1 <1 <1Other <1 <1 0 1.4 <1

any

anything

arrived

been

before

both

box

boys

brown

bus

can't

chocolate

class

clothes

cold

cool

dark

days

decided

died

different

doing

drove

each

eating

end

even

everything

excited

eyes

I'll

kept

kicked

kids

king

knew

land

later

left

let

Words on OWL+ but not on OWL (136 words)

face

felt

few

finally

fire

forest

front

getting

ghost

giant

girls

give

goal

gold

gone

green

ground

gun

hair

hand

happened

hard

having

hear

heard

hit

hole

hot

hour

hours

Unique Words

let's

life

light

live

looking

minutes

money

most

mother

never

no one

nothing

open

opened

parents

person

pet

police

puppy

quickly

rain

ready

replied

right

run

running

same

sat

say

screamed

while

whole

window

year

years

yelled

second

shot

should

shouted

six

small

soon

space

stay

stop

stopped

story

stuff

suddenly

sunny

tell

ten

than

think

thought

through

top

town

under

used

wait

wasn't

way

week

which

Unique Words (cont)

Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2008 Oxford Wordlist no matter what their year level.

Implications for educators

Anne Bayetto

Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2010 Oxford Wordlist Plus.

Words that students can already spell should not be included in their spelling programs.

Implications for educators

Unknown words need to be taught.

Words in Oxford Wordlist Plus may be used as a springboard.

Develop students’ spoken and written vocabulary.

Teach students how to write more complex sentences.

Implications for educators

Consolidate students’ understanding of regular and irregular verbs.

Tread carefully when putting quantity of words ahead of quality.

Adverbs enhance verbs.

Prepositions have a place!

Keep building knowledge about compound words.

Implications for educators

Expand pronoun knowledge.

Increase expertise in the use of adjectives.

Keep teaching comparatives and superlatives.

Designated NAPLAN text types aren’t the only genre to be taught.

“Words form the thread on which we string our experiences”

Aldous Huxley

In summary...