Word Frequency as a Predictor of Students' Reading Vocabularies

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study of word frequency as a predictor of students' reading vocabularies and the effects of grade, ability, and sex on word knowledge. Subjects, 432 seventh through twelfth grade students, received an 86 item vocabulary test on which each word represented a frequency block of 1,000 words (1st thousand most frequent, 2nd thousand most frequent … 86th thousand most frequent). Results indicated that correct responses tend to decline rapidly with less frequent words (regression slope = −.47) but that the relationship between frequency and word knowledge is not a strong one (r = .44). Results further indicated significant differences (p < .001) due to frequency, grade and ability but none due to sex. Implications for using frequency to control word difficulty and questions raised about vocabulary development are discussed.

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