This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored. Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs. In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored. Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs. In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics)

This research study examines the forensic application of a selection of stylistic and stylometric techniques in a simulated authorship attribution case involving texts on the social networking site, Facebook. Eight participants each submitted 2,000 words of self-authored text from their personal Facebook messages, and one of them submitted an extra 2,000 words to act as the ‘disputed text’. The texts were analysed in terms of the first 1,000 words received and then at the 2,000-word level to determine what effect text length has on the effectiveness of the chosen style markers (keywords, function words, most frequently occurring words, punctuation, use of digitally mediated communication features and spelling). It was found that despite accurately identifying the author of the disputed text at the 1,000-word level, the results were not entirely conclusive but at the 2,000-word level the results were more promising, with certain style markers being particularly effective. / Linguistics / MA (Linguistics)

This research study examines the forensic application of a selection of stylistic and stylometric techniques in a simulated authorship attribution case involving texts on the social networking site, Facebook. Eight participants each submitted 2,000 words of self-authored text from their personal Facebook messages, and one of them submitted an extra 2,000 words to act as the ‘disputed text’. The texts were analysed in terms of the first 1,000 words received and then at the 2,000-word level to determine what effect text length has on the effectiveness of the chosen style markers (keywords, function words, most frequently occurring words, punctuation, use of digitally mediated communication features and spelling). It was found that despite accurately identifying the author of the disputed text at the 1,000-word level, the results were not entirely conclusive but at the 2,000-word level the results were more promising, with certain style markers being particularly effective. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)