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  • Vocabulary Knowledge: Human Ratings and Automated Measures eds. by S. Jarvis & M. Daller
  • Michael P.H. Rodgers
S. Jarvis & M. Daller (Eds.). (2013). Vocabulary Knowledge: Human Ratings and Automated Measures. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing. Pp. 228, US$135.00 (hardcover).

Vocabulary Knowledge: Human Ratings and Automated Measures, edited by Scott Jarvis and Michael Daller, is an innovative and noteworthy contribution to the field of vocabulary research. Although the seven studies presented in this collection are united in their investigation of vocabulary acquisition and lexical development, the differing methodologies employed and unique research questions explored could have made for a somewhat disjointed book of rather tenuously related [End Page 409] research. But the book begins with a comprehensive and thought-provoking introduction that ties the research together, achieved by walking the reader through the differentiation between the method-centring and problem-centring approaches to research. It is made clear that the book’s chapters are grounded in the problem-centring approach wherein researchers look to solve problems through the refinement of existing methodologies as well as the development of new techniques, rather than merely using those already available (method-centring). The introduction includes an explanation of the reasons why the editors believe that the book signposts an important era in the modelling and measurement of vocabulary acquisition and lexical development. The introduction concludes by detailing how each study employs a problem-centring approach as well as providing an overview of the methodologies used, the main findings, and the contribution of these findings to the field of vocabulary research.

In the first chapter of the book, Jarvis begins by proposing a model of lexical diversity based on six measurable properties (variability, volume, evenness, rarity, dispersion, and disparity), then proceeds to investigate how well the model accounts for human raters’ assessment of the lexical diversity in written narratives from English language learners and native speakers. In chapter 2, McCarthy and Jarvis present findings from research concerning the ecological validity of three measures of lexical diversity by analyzing short written texts of varying lengths produced by native and non-native speakers of English. Treffers-Daller presents a study in chapter 3 that examines the efficacy of four measures of lexical diversity for predicting language proficiency and text complexity based on oral narratives produced by French language learners and native speakers. In chapter 4, Crossley, Salsbury, and McNamara examine the convergent validity of lexical indices provided by Coh-Metrix by comparing them to human judgements of these lexical features present in L1 and L2 writing samples, and assess the predictive ability of the indices for explaining judgements of language proficiency. Chapter 5 presents research by Cross-ley, Feng, Cai, and McNamara that examines the use of automated lexical indices for predicting human judgements of the concreteness, familiarity, and imageability of words. In chapter 6, Edwards and Collins propose a frequency-based model of L2 vocabulary acquisition and examine the fit of the parameters of the model through an analysis of the written production of francophone ESL students. Finally, chapter 7 highlights a study conducted by Daller, Turlik, and Weir in which the learning curves observed in the richness of the vocabulary used in essays produced by EFL learners over a two-year span were [End Page 410] examined through automated measures of lexical richness as well as ratings from experts.

Overall, the writing is consistently clear and accessible across the chapters and readers are introduced to the history, terminology, and issues related to using automated processes and human ratings to measure vocabulary knowledge. This provides a good overview for readers unfamiliar with all the aspects of vocabulary research presented in this book. However, the studies presented in the book also offer enough new research to interest those already knowledgeable about the topic. The volume may be more relevant for researchers than for practitioners, although most chapters present the pedagogical implications of the findings.

A possible weakness of this book may be the range of studies presented. It is difficult to imagine how the book would be completely relatable to a single researcher as the questions investigated tend to employ unique and technical methodologies that may be unfamiliar to many scholars interested in...

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