Measuring and enhancing lexical richness of middle school students’ EFL written production - Volume 9 - 2

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

The study investigates lexical richness in 239 English-as-a-foreign-language writing samples produced by middle school students in Zhejiang Province. Using AntWordProfiler, it compares results based on the prestored BASEWORD lists versus rearranged BASEWORD lists aligned with the 2022 English Curriculum Standards. Lexical variation, sophistication, errors, and density are analyzed. Findings show homework writings are richer than exam writings, with higher sophistication and fewer errors, while lexical density remains similar, informing vocabulary teaching implications.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

ABSTRACT

ARTICLE HISTORY

1. INTRODUCTION

Asian Journal of Contemporary Education ISSN(e): 2617-1252 DOI: 10. 55493/5052 . v9i2 .5794 Vol. 9, No. 2, 228-240. © 2025 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved. Measuring and enhancing lexical richness of middle school students’ EFL written production Yujie Su1 Altayeb Salih Ahmed Mohammed2+ Xueyan Li3 Shuchang, Dong4 Yuqing Dai5 1,2,3,4,5School of Foreign Studies, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, PRC, China. 1Email: [susanwtf@wzu.edu.cn](susanwtf@wzu.edu.cn) 2Email: [altayeb@stu.wzu.edu.cn](altayeb@stu.wzu.edu.cn) [3](3Email: kykiwen@wzu.edu.cn)[Email:](3Email: kykiwen@wzu.edu.cn)[ ](3Email: kykiwen@wzu.edu.cn)[kykiwen@wzu.edu.cn](3Email: kykiwen@wzu.edu.cn) (+ Corresponding author) 4Email: [1740627301@qq.com](1740627301@qq.com) 5Email: [daiyuqing@stu.wzu.edu.cn](daiyuqing@stu.wzu.edu.cn) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 23 June 2025 Revised: 13 November 2025 Accepted: 15 December 2025 Published: 31 December 2025 Keywords English as a foreign language Lexical richness Middle school students Vocabulary development Written production. Lexical richness, a common analytical measure of textual analysis in EFL writing research, is measured by three indices: lexical density, sophistication, and variation. Researchers have developed variant software such as AntWordProfiler to facilitate corpus-based analysis of lexical richness in writing. However, few studies have explored the lexical richness of middle school students’written English in China. The pre-stored corpus of word levels fails to accurately represent the lexical richness in the writings because the leveled word list is much larger than the students’ acquired vocabulary. This study examines 239 articles written by middle school students in Zhejiang Province using AntWordProfiler, employing two different sets of BASEWORD lists: the prestored BASEWORD lists and the rearranged BASEWORD lists in accordance with the English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2022 Edition). The pre-stored BASEWORD lists within AntWordProfiler were used to assess the vocabulary richness of the students’ articles; subsequently, rearranged BASEWORD lists were applied by AntWordProfiler. The results are presented in terms of lexical variation, lexical sophistication, lexical errors, and lexical density. A comprehensive analysis was conducted using these categories. The research found that homework writings were richer than exam writings, exhibiting higher lexical sophistication and fewer errors. However, they were similar in lexical density. The differences were particularly notable and may have implications for vocabulary teaching in middle schools. Contribution/ Originality: This study is one of the few investigations that have examined middle school students’EFL written production through a multidimensional analysis of lexical richness using AntWordProfiler. It contributes to the existing literature by integrating lexical variability, sophistication, density, and errors to provide a comprehensive assessment framework. 1. INTRODUCTION Lexical richness is one of the key determinants of a writer’s vocabulary size (Laufer & Nation, 1995) and is also seen as a crucial indicator of writing proficiency (Fan, Yang, & Huang, 2023) . It substantially contributes to the quality of L2 writing (Ha, 2019) and is commonly employed as a measure in textual analysis within L2 writing research. Through its usage, distinct variation in vocabulary employed by students can be discerned, thereby assessing the practical mastery of vocabulary (Park & Walker, 2022) . In the context of language learning, vocabulary is regarded as a vital element (Nation, 2006) . Over decades, a substantial amount of research conducted in English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) learning has corroborated the correlation between vocabulary knowledge and comprehension and found a strong correlation between vocabulary knowledge and languag

FAQs

What indices are used to measure lexical richness in the students’ EFL writing?

Lexical richness is measured through lexical density, lexical sophistication, lexical variation, and lexical errors, analyzed comprehensively across these categories.

How does the study compare the two BASEWORD list settings in AntWordProfiler?

It runs AntWordProfiler using both prestored BASEWORD lists and rearranged BASEWORD lists that follow the English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2022 Edition), then compares the resulting lexical measures.

What major differences are found between homework and exam writings?

Homework writings show higher lexical sophistication and fewer lexical errors than exam writings, while lexical density remains similar across both types of writing.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda