Learning opportunities for high-frequency lemmas in Japanese and Taiwanese senior high school EFL textbooks: A comparative study

2026-01-01T03:32:31-06:00

This study aims to identify differences in learning opportunities for high-frequency lemmas in senior high school textbooks from Japan and Taiwan. High-frequency lemmas are essential for the development of the four language skills and for achieving the lexical coverage necessary for comprehension. Although Japan and Taiwan share similar English learning environments, such as limited exposure and comparable linguistic distance from English, their test-takers have consistently displayed markedly different proficiency levels, as shown in international assessments. To explore vocabulary-related factors that may contribute to this discrepancy, this study compares the variety and repetition of high-frequency lemmas in representative textbooks from both countries. A lemma-based corpus analysis was conducted using two established wordlists: The New General Service List (New-GSL) and the lemmatized BNC wordlist. The results show that Taiwanese textbooks contain over 90% of the high-frequency lemmas from both lists and offer substantially more opportunities for repeated exposure. In contrast, Japanese textbooks cover only about 50% of these lemmas and provide fewer instances of repetition. These findings indicate that Taiwanese textbooks may offer more comprehensive support for vocabulary learning. The study emphasizes the importance of sufficient input and repetition of high-frequency words in EFL materials and provides pedagogical implications for enhancing the lexical content of Japanese textbooks.

Research in English Language Teaching

Learning opportunities for high-frequency lemmas in Japanese and Taiwanese senior high school EFL textbooks: A comparative study