Michael GOETHALS
K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Bringing (learning) order in the chaos. Managing “difficult” words in authentic texts (for the preparation of learning materials) with the (shareware) WordClassifier. A contribution to teacher and learner autonomy; and a tool for learners preparing learning materials for peer learners.
WordClassifier is a simple piece of
software to identify the lexical “difficulty” profile of authentic texts and to
classify the words in terms of “usefulness” for further EFL learning.
This presentation will not only demonstrate the
software, but also briefly refer to the discussion about the principles applied
(lexical frequency and its relevance for (E)FL teaching and learning).
WordClassifier classifies words of a text into
lists according to learning “ranges” in a sequence of their probable usefulness
for learners of EILE (English as an International Language in Europe), as listed
in the E.E.T Vocabulary-list (the European English Teaching Vocabulary-list). It
is a software program for Microsoft Windows for PC (2000 and beyond).
This software is offered for free, as shareware: as a service to the EFL teaching and learning community worldwide. A number of applications in EFL teaching, learning and assessment will be offered and discussed. In between, the principles behind the EET-vocabulary list will be explained and research findings on the usefulness of frequency data for language teaching and the concept of “vocabulary management” in EFL teaching and learning will be referred to, and some comparison with similar data available (like P. Nation’s lists, the COBUILD, Longman and MacMillan dictionaries).