Adjectives in English Course Books

Abstract

Do the textbooks provide pupils with a relevant vocabulary, or are the words in the textbooks just placed there in a haphazard manner? Some words are more important to know, in order to understand as much as possible. This essay concerns adjectives in English textbooks, and their relation to high-frequency lists. In order to study the relationship, two textbooks are examined and the results show both similarities and differences to previous studies. One conclusion is that words that occur more than once are most likely to be in the frequency lists and therefore, ought to be emphasised by teachers who teach weaker pupils. The results also showed that both textbooks emphasise spoken language. The essay discusses the importance of an individualized English classroom and the importance of high-frequency lists and how to use them properly.