The most frequent BNC/COCA mid- and low-frequency word families in English-medium traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) textbooks

Abstract This article reports on a corpus-based study of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) vocabulary. It first provides a vocabulary profile of English-medium Traditional Chinese Medicine textbooks and journal articles using Nation’s (2012) British National Corpus/Corpus of Contemporary American English (BNC/COCA 25,000) frequency word lists and supplementary word lists of proper nouns, abbreviations, and compounds. Then, it categorizes items outside Nation’s BNC/COCA into Chinese loan words (e.g., qi, yang) and medical lexis (e.g., cinnamomi, rehmanniae), which cover 5.93% of the TCM Corpora in total. The next analysis focuses on Schmitt and Schmitt’s (2014) high, mid, low-frequency vocabulary framework and how it differs from Western medicine. Finally, a vocabulary load analysis shows that to reach 98%, 13,000 word families plus four supplementary lists and two TCM-specific lists are needed. Together, these analyses provide us with a rounded picture of TCM vocabulary. Implications for pedagogy and suggestions for future research follow.

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Selecting Television Programs for Language Learning: Investigating Television Programs from the Same Genre

International Journal of English Studies ◽

10.6018/ijes/2011/1/137131 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 117 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Stuart Webb

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Vocabulary Learning ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Forensic Investigation ◽

Television Programs ◽

Frequency Word ◽

American Drama ◽

Word Families ◽

Equivalent Number

The scripts of 288 television episodes were analysed to determine the extent to which vocabulary reoccurs in television programs from the same subgenres and unrelated television programs from different genres. Episodes from two programs from each of the following three subgenres of the American drama genre: medical, spy/action, and criminal forensic investigation were compared with different sets of random episodes. The results showed that although there were an equivalent number of running words in each set of episodes, the episodes from programs within the same subgenre contained fewer word families than random programs. The findings also showed that low frequency word families (4000-14,000 levels) reoccur more often in programs within the same subgenre. Together the results indicate that watching programs within the same subgenre may be an effective approach to language learning with television because it reduces the lexical demands of viewing and increases the potential for vocabulary learning.

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