A Corpus-Based Analysis of Vocabulary Progression in Philippines' English Modules

Abstract

The present study investigated vocabulary progression within the Philippine K-12 English curriculum by conducting a corpus-based analysis of selected Grade 10 and Grade 11, the crucial transitioning years between junior and senior high school. This research compared the lexical profiles of the said modules and determined if Grade 11 learning materials that are generally aligned to English as a subject exhibits increased lexical complexity, aligning with the principles of a spiraling curriculum. A quantitative, comparative corpus linguistics methodology was employed, utilizing AntConc and #LancsBox software to analyze metrics including token/type counts, Type-Token Ratio (TTR), Moving-Average TTR (MATTR), Measure of Textual Lexical Diversity (MTLD), keyword frequency and likelihood, dispersion (Julliand's D), and collocates. Findings revealed that the Grade 11 corpus was significantly larger and contained more unique word types than the Grade 10 corpus. While the results show that Grade 10 has higher TTR than Grade 11, MATTR indicated similar local lexical diversity. Notably, numbers suggest that Grade 11 has greater overall lexical diversity (MLTD). Keyword, dispersion, and collocate analyses indicated nuanced shifts in subject matter and contextual word usage, moving from foundational concepts and tasks in Grade 10 towards more analytical and specialized applications in Grade 11. The results provide empirical evidence supporting vocabulary progression and increased complexity from Grade 10 to Grade 11, largely aligning with K-12 expectations. These findings imply that while the modules generally reflect the expected rise in difficulty across the K-12 curriculum, this progression is characterized by more than just vocabulary growth. It also includes variations in subject matter focus and the practical use of language.