Back to Basics in Measuring Lexical Diversity: Too Simple to Be True

IF 3.6 1区文学 Q1 LINGUISTICS

Applied Linguistics Pub Date : 2024-08-07 DOI:10.1093/applin/amae053

Yves Bestgen

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Measuring lexical diversity in texts that have different lengths is problematic because length has a significant effect on the number of types a text contains, thus hampering any comparison. Treffers-Daller et al. (2018) recommended a simple solution, namely counting the number of types in a section of a given length that was extracted from the middle of each of the texts to be analysed. By applying this approach to second language essays, the authors observed that using the number of types was slightly more effective for differentiating amongst the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels than were the Type-Token Ratio (TTR) and the Guiraud index and that these three indices were more effective than were mathematically more complex ones. However, their conclusions regarding these two points are incorrect, and a less basic approach should be used. The last section addresses two broader issues in applied linguistics that are highlighted by these problems.

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词法多样性测量中的 "返璞归真"：简单得不真实

在长度不同的文本中测量词汇多样性是个问题，因为长度对文本包含的类型数量有很大影响，从而妨碍了任何比较。Treffers-Daller 等人（2018）推荐了一种简单的解决方案，即计算从每篇待分析文本中间提取的给定长度部分中的类型数量。通过将这种方法应用于第二语言文章，作者观察到，在区分《欧洲语言共同参考框架》（CEFR）等级时，使用类型数比类型-代词比（TTR）和吉罗指数更有效，而且这三种指数比数学上更复杂的指数更有效。然而，他们关于这两点的结论是不正确的，应该采用一种不那么基本的方法。最后一节讨论了这些问题所凸显的应用语言学中两个更广泛的问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Linguistics LINGUISTICS-

CiteScore

7.60

自引率

8.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Applied Linguistics publishes research into language with relevance to real-world problems. The journal is keen to help make connections between fields, theories, research methods, and scholarly discourses, and welcomes contributions which critically reflect on current practices in applied linguistic research. It promotes scholarly and scientific discussion of issues that unite or divide scholars in applied linguistics. It is less interested in the ad hoc solution of particular problems and more interested in the handling of problems in a principled way by reference to theoretical studies.