9 conversation, and et cetera. The example of high-frequency words are ran, after,
need, and head.
b. Academic Words
Academic words are words which can be found in an academic textbook. It contains many words which are common in different kinds of academic texts, like,
policy, phase, adjusted, and sustained. This group of words usually make up about 9 of the running words in the text. An academic word list is made by deciding on
the high-frequency words of English. Then, a range of academic texts is going to be examined in order to find out what words that do not belong to the high-
frequency words, but had wide range and reasonable frequency of occurrence.
c. Technical Words
The example of technical words can be found at technical dictionaries, like dictionaries of economics, geography, or electronics. These words include
indigenous, regeneration, podocarp, beech, and rimu a New Zealand tree. Usually, if there are any technical words in the text, it will be marked in italics like
the low-frequency words. Technical words like these usually cover about 5 of the running words in a text.
d. Low-frequency Words
Low-frequency words include words like zoned, pioneering, perpetuity, aired, and pastoral. This kind of words includes all the words that do not include
neither high-frequency words, academic words, nor technical words. Nation 2008 in his book explain low-frequency words as:
“1 words that are not quite frequent or wide range enough to be high- frequency words abort, absorb, accelerate, accent, accusation, acid, acre,
10 2 technical words from other areas one person’s technical vocabulary is
another person’s low-frequency vocabulary, and 3 words that just occur rarely.” p. 11
Low-frequency words are usually marked in italics. In friendly conversation, about 5 of the running words are low-frequency words, in
newspaper they are about 10, meanwhile in academic texts about 10. Then, Haycraft, as quoted by Hatch and Brown 1995, divides vocabulary
into two distinctions namely receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary is words which learners can recognize and understand when
they are used in context. It is vocabulary that learners recognize when they see it in context but do not use it in speaking and writing Webb, 2009. Meanwhile,
productive vocabulary is words which learners understand and can pronounce correctly and use grammatically correct in both speaking and writing. Productive
vocabulary involves what learners needed for receptive vocabulary added with the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time Webb, 2009.
2. Vocabulary Size
Research shows that learners need to know approximately 98 of the words in written or spoken language in order to understand it well. Learners need numbers
of coverage in written texts about 8,000 to 9,000 words families to read newspapers, novels, and some academic texts. Meanwhile the spoken mode such as lecturers and
movies requires fewer word families, about 6,000 to 7,000 Nation, 2006. The distribution of the 98 text coverage is shown in Table 2.1.
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