A Corpus-based Lexical Study of Agricultural Sciences in Open and Distance Learning Coursebooks.

Lexical knowledge is extremely important for learning success, especially in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), where students use printed texts as their main source of learning information. Although studies have indicated a favourable correlation between vocabulary and academic achievement, especial...

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Publicado en:Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 2243 - 2263
Autores principales: Haruna, Hamisu Hamisu, Ahmad Tajuddin, Azza Jauhar, Sulaiman, Wid Zuriana
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Universiti Putra Malaysia Dec2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2025
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      pub: Universiti Putra Malaysia
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          Haruna, Hamisu Hamisu
          Ahmad Tajuddin, Azza Jauhar
          Sulaiman, Wid Zuriana
        affil:
          Department of English, Al-Qalam University Katsina, 820102 Katsina, Nigeria
          Center of Fundamental and Continuing Education, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
          Marine Conservation and Research Organisation Malaysia (PULIHARA), Lang Tengah Island, 21090 Terengganu, Malaysia
      su:
        English as a foreign language
        Open learning
        Distance education
        Curriculum planning
        National Open University of Nigeria
      sug:
        subj:
          English as a foreign language
          Open learning
          Distance education
          Curriculum planning
          National Open University of Nigeria
      keyword:
        AntWordProfiler
        corpus analysis
        coursebooks
        English as a Second Language
        lexical load
        specialised corpus
      ab: Lexical knowledge is extremely important for learning success, especially in Open and Distance Learning (ODL), where students use printed texts as their main source of learning information. Although studies have indicated a favourable correlation between vocabulary and academic achievement, especially in advanced subjects such as agricultural sciences, recent research has not yet adequately addressed the lexical challenges in agricultural ODL coursebooks. This study involved a corpus analysis of 1.4 million words from five agricultural sub-disciplines at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Nation's British National Corpus and Corpus of Contemporary American English (BNC/COCA) word lists and Coxhead's Academic Word List (AWL) were used to analyse the lexical coverage required for comprehension thresholds of 95% and 98%. The results show that ODL students require 8,000-9,000 word families for independent reading and that the supplementary lists comprise 1.91% of the required word families. The AWL coverage remained stable across all levels (9.42%-11.75%), indicating a homogeneous academic lexical profile. Limitations include the focus on a single subject area and the reliance on corpus analysis. The findings from this study allow for targeted vocabulary instruction that integrates subject-specific terms, a balanced approach to academic vocabulary acquisition, evidence-based curriculum design, and learner support initiatives. This study makes a valuable contribution by identifying the specific lexical needs of students, creating relevant and comprehensible course materials, and thereby improving the quality of agricultural education in ODL learning environments.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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    language: English
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      holder: Universiti Putra Malaysia
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          year: 2025
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