University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2010 The Academic Word List Reorganized For Spanish-speaking English Language Learners Robert W. Bushong II University of Central Florida Part of the Language and Literacy Education Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Bushong, Robert W. II, "The Academic Word List Reorganized For Spanish-speaking English Language Learners" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 1598. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/1598 THE ACADEMIC WORD LIST REORGANIZED FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS by ROBERT W. BUSHONG II B.A. Rollins College, 2007 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2010 Major Professor: Keith S. Folse © 2010 Robert W. Bushong II ii ABSTRACT Published in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanish- speaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and linguistic analysis of the 570 items in the AWL, the research in this thesis has resulted in a newly reorganized AWL divided into four categories that are more useful for our Spanish-speaking English language learners as well as their instructors, curriculum designers, and materials writers: English-Spanish true cognates, partial cognates, false cognates, and non-cognates. iii This study is dedicated with love and gratitude to Mom, Dad, and little sis, Kim. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Keith Folse, who has been my academic advisor, thesis committee chair, and mentor. Thank you for giving me the idea for this study and entrusting me with it. Second, I am grateful to Dr. Kerry Purmensky and Dr. Florin Mihai, who have been my professors and thesis committee members. Thank you for your willingness to commit to this project. Additionally, I am appreciative of Dr. Gergana Vitanova, my professor who introduced me to analyzing TESOL research; Myrna Creasman, the director of UCF‘s intensive English program, who took a chance on me by giving me a teaching position and then allowed me flexibility with my work schedule so that I could finish my studies; Marcella Farina, my coworker who shares my passion for research and has been a sounding board throughout my education at UCF; and Eddie Pipkin, one of my closest friends and mentors, who has helped to shape me both academically and personally. Thank you all for sharing your time and experience. Finally, thanks Mom, Dad, and little sis, Kim, for your unconditional love and support always. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................... 2 Research Question ...................................................................................................................... 2 Assumption ................................................................................................................................. 2 Definition of Terms .................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................. 9 Vocabulary Word Lists ............................................................................................................... 9 Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Proficiency .................................................................... 13 What Is a Cognate? ................................................................................................................... 15 Cognates, Polysemes, and Homonyms ..................................................................................... 21 Six Features of Cognates .......................................................................................................... 25 Three Types of Cognates .......................................................................................................... 29 English-Spanish Cognate Lists ................................................................................................. 31 Cognate Awareness ................................................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 40 Procedure .................................................................................................................................. 41 Dictionary Sources .................................................................................................................... 47 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 49 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ..................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ................................................................................................. 57 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 57 Evaluation ................................................................................................................................. 57 Features of AWL Cognates ....................................................................................................... 58 Implications for Teaching ......................................................................................................... 66 Recommendations for Further Research ................................................................................... 69 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 70 APPENDIX A: 434 AWL ENGLISH-SPANISH TRUE COGNATES ....................................... 72 APPENDIX B: 14 AWL ENGLISH-SPANISH PARTIAL COGNATES .................................. 84 APPENDIX C: 16 AWL ENGLISH-SPANISH FALSE COGNATES ....................................... 87 APPENDIX D: 106 AWL ENGLISH-SPANISH NON-COGNATES ........................................ 89 APPENDIX E: 570 AWL ENGLISH-SPANISH COGNATES AND NON-COGNATES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER .......................................................................................................... 93 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 110 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Number of AWL English-Spanish Cognates ................................................................ 55 Figure 2: Percentages of AWL English-Spanish Cognates .......................................................... 56 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Homograph Example ...................................................................................................... 23 Table 2: Morphological Cognates ................................................................................................. 37 Table 3: Sample Page from Data Collection Instrument (Blank) ................................................. 45 Table 4: Sample Page from Data Collection Instrument .............................................................. 46 Table 5: Description of Dictionary Sources .................................................................................. 48 Table 6: Number of AWL Cognates ............................................................................................. 55 Table 7: Sample of AWL English-Spanish Morphemes ............................................................... 67 viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Statement of the Problem Since its publication in TESOL Quarterly, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has increasingly influenced ESL/EFL curricula and textbooks and, presumably, has aided students‘ learning the vocabulary necessary for successful study in English-speaking academic environments. With approximately 80% of its words being English-Spanish cognates, is the AWL of less