Abstract:

Vocabulary constitutes one of the essential components of language and language learning, significantly affecting the development of four communicative language skills and thus the overall development of communicative competence. Despite the diversity of sources that influence vocabulary acquisition, the EFL coursebooks remain the main source for language learning, providing learners with a significant range of vocabulary as well as the most consistent and systematic framework for practising it at lower levels of language proficiency in the Slovak educational context. However, to what extent the vocabulary presented in EFL coursebooks reflects the reference levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the National Curricula in English is disputable. While profiling, students usually achieve better results in receptive skills, therefore it seems to be crucial to find out whether acquired vocabulary is used adequately in students’ written performances.

The aim of this study is to thoroughly examine the lexical items of a selected set of EFL coursebooks, used in lower secondary education (Grades 6 – 9), corresponding with CEFR level A2 and their reflection in students’ writing. Our previous research suggests that coursebooks contain vocabulary assigned for higher reference levels.

First, the study employs the principles of content analysis to enable us to identify the most frequent coursebook vocabulary, and investigates the correlation of lexical items assigned by the Cambridge Vocabulary Corpus within the English Language Profile project.

Secondly, we examine the vocabulary lists defined in the Innovated National Curricula in English and compare the achieved data with the aim to identify differences between the above-mentioned documents. Furthermore, we explore the progress of students’ lexical competence in the first (Grade 6) and the final year (Grade 9) of lower secondary education through measuring their achievements in writing. To verify whether the lexical items presented in a set of coursebooks assigned for reaching the A2 level, we compare students’ performances with the scale concerning vocabulary range can-do statements, defined in the CEFR.

The study offers new perspectives with regard to introducing common reference levels, the CEFR descriptors and illustrative samples that can help teachers of English as a foreign language to integrate relevant vocabulary into teaching and to encourage them to assess it in an effective way.

Keywords:

CEFR, vocabulary, coursebook texts, comparative analysis, written production.