ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 focuses on vocabulary in Asian learners’ L2 English. Section 4.1 showcases a variety of corpus studies discussing aspects of L2 learners’ vocabulary use (e.g., vocabulary level, multi-word sequences, and lexical overuse/underuse). Sections 4.2–4.4 present the case studies based on the ICNALE. Section 4.2 examines the overall quantitative aspects of Asian ESL and EFL learners’ vocabulary use in speeches and essays. The analytical attention is paid to lexical fluency, lexical diversity, and lexical sophistication. Section 4.3 adopts the technique of keyword analysis to identify the vocabulary overused or underused by Asian EFL learners at different proficiency levels and from different regions. Finally, Section 4.4 attempts to expand the conventional keyword analysis as a staple technique of contrastive interlanguage analysis (CIA) in two ways by applying it not only to individual words but also to multi-word sequences and by comparing learners’ outputs with the edited versions rather than the native-speakers’ outputs. Identification of the keywords and keyphrases (trigrams) characterising each of the original and edited versions helps us deepen our understanding of the communicative problems that Asian learners commonly face.
