The Counts of Dracula and Monte Cristo: Homonym Frequencies in Graded Readers.

Autor: Parent, Kevin, McLean, Stuart, Kramer, Brandon, Young Ae Kim
Předmět:
Zdroj: Reading in a Foreign Language; Apr2023, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p48-71, 24p
Abstrakt: Graded readers are a great asset to learners acquiring the vocabulary of another language. Homonyms, on the other hand, are a recognized source of trouble for students with that same goal. Publishers of graded readers control the presentation of old and new words, but does this control extend to homonyms? Are only the word forms controlled for--in which case, the unrelated meanings of match (a pairing and a stick for starting fire) would together constitute two uses of the word? Or would these tally as separate words which, semantically and etymologically, they are? A comparison of a 4.2 million-word corpus of graded readers with previous research on the distributions of homonymic meanings in general English reveals that the meanings presented to learners are frequently quite different to those in general-purpose texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Supplemental Index