Lexical Richness of One-Minute Speaking Task by Science and Technology University Students

Abstract

Driven by Coxhead’s question “What vocabulary do ESP learners need?”, this study aims to investigate the quality of vocabulary use by measuring lexical richness (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication and lexical density) of speech production in ESP classroom context. The data was collected from 100 first year university students while performing a speaking task. Drawing on D_tools and AntWordProfiler, we made measures of diversity and sophistication. TagAnt was applied for calculating percentages of lexical density. Furthermore, a scale-based approach was employed for technical identification. The results revealed that vocabulary produced by the students was mainly from GSL1000 word list. Lexical density of the speech was 43.72% and the lexical diversity was moderately rich with a value of D 58.8. This study suggests needs of productive vocabulary in ESP classroom contexts. The results of this study imply that ESP students need a great awareness that they are parts of a particular group. To achieve the goal of learning, they are required possession of disciplinary knowledge and skills of the area they belong.