1. Oxford Wordlist Research Stage 2
An investigation of high frequency words in Years 3 and 4 students’ writing development
This stage of the research came about quite quickly once the Oxford Wordlist (307 words for the first three years of school) was released as the result of the Stage 1 research study in 2008.
The Stage 1 study examined almost 4000 writing samples of students in their first three years of school. Research of this type had not been conducted in over 30 years.
We then had requests from educators about where to next? This lead us to Stage 2....what differences, if indeed there were any...would we find in the writing of our Year 3 and 4 students. How early years skewed, was this list? Was it relevant beyond the early years? What more can we learn about Yr 3 and 4 students by examining their writing and what would be the implications for you as educators and education professionals.
We set about answering these questions and in partnership with Anne Bayetto our second journey began. This research study An investigation of high frequency words in Years 3 and 4 students’ writing development (once again with approval from state education departments) was conducted in 2009.
Conducted in 2009

2. 404 most frequently used words Words in common / words unique
Publishing the list
404 most frequently used words
Words in common / words unique
Foundation list
We have called the list from Stage 2 Oxford Wordlist research study the Oxford Wordlist Plus because of course the words from both stages of the study cross over and intertwine. Oxford Wordlist Plus is not a list of completely new words. There are words that appear on both lists. Words like the, and I, is, to would be on any list for any English speaking writer, anywhere.
It wasn’t just a matter of delving further into the Oxford Wordlist we already had (after the top 307 Oxford Wordlist words) and finding a group of new words to introduce in Years 3 and 4. Further down the list...less frequent....less useful for all.
Refer to Oxford Wordlist Plus poster/brochure
404 most frequently used words
The Oxford Wordlist Plus is comprised of 404 words in frequency order. The final count of 404 words was due to the equal frequency of words 400 to 404. The words in red are new (i.e. They did not appear on Oxford Wordlist – 307 words). As you get further down the list you start to see more differences. Age appropriate nouns and verbs reflect activities and interests of this age group and other word choices reflect increased sophistication of writing.
Words in common / words unique
A venn diagram is used to show words unique to both lists and also those words in common.
Foundation list
This list has been generated by looking at both lists and then combining frequency rates (tempered by number of samples in each data set) to find that core list of 200 words that would go across all year levels. This list would probably form the core of any group of writers in a primary school setting.

3. Summary Report - Anne Bayetto
Further copies of both the Summary Report and the Oxford Wordlist Plus list can be downloaded from our website, free to all educators.
Summary Report - Anne Bayetto

4.
You can also access the complete database and customise lists according to the student’s demographic categories attributed to each writing sample.

5. Speaking our Language: The Story of Australian English Bruce Moore
“...of all the markers of identity, language is by far the most significant. This language we speak, which gives voice to our Australian identity is not, however, a uni-faceted thing. It is...a multi-faceted entity. Australian English is central to the process of giving voice to our Australian identity: in important ways, we are WHAT we speak, and we are HOW we speak.”

6. 896 students 2688 samples 315 345 words Statistics
Research design and methodology
Stage 2 of the Oxford Wordlist research study gathered samples of free writing from a large number of Year 3 & Year 4 students with selected key factors of gender, socio-economic status, language background, and location being considered, and comparisons made with the data set gathered for Stage 1 of the research study.
Writing samples were obtained from participating students in intact classes over a period of two weeks. Classroom teachers were asked to collect writing samples that were generated by students during free writing sessions. In this way, students were able to use writing materials and resources with which they were familiar. It was believed that samples of free writing offered a truer account of words students spontaneously chose to use and that these word choices provided opportunities to observe contemporary use of Australian English across a range of school settings.
Data for the research was drawn from 896 students in Years 3 & 4 with approximately equal numbers of students in each of the two year levels and with slightly more girls than boys. Three writing samples were collected for each student giving a total of writing samples and words overall. The writing samples were photocopied by the class teacher who attached a code and completed the demographic data for each student. All of the words written by the 896 students were entered into a data spreadsheet but proper nouns and brand names were not included in the analyses. Information about socio-economic status was drawn from the existing education system data and was based on the socio-economic status of the school.

7. English Speaking (ESB) Non-English speaking (NESB)
Demographics
School Year (this equates to 4th and 5th year of formal schooling)
Year 3
Year 4
1437 (479 students)
1251 (417 students)
Gender
Male
Female
1332 (444 students)
1356 (452 students)
School Setting
Low SES
Mid SES
High SES
1170 (390 students)
516 (172 students)
1002 (334 students)
Location
Rural = 20% of total
Rural
Urban
537 (179 students)
2151 (717 students)
In keeping with the 2008 research, writing samples were collected from students in government schools and proportions for each of the selected demographic factors were calculated using the Australian Census figures cited in The Words Children Write: Research Summary of the Oxford Wordlist Research Study. This enabled participant numbers in each of the two year levels sampled to be broadly reflective of its representation in the whole Australian primary school-aged population.
The tables in this slide show the actual breakdown of the data collected.
Language Background
English Speaking (ESB)
Non-English speaking (NESB)
1629 (543 students)
1059 (353 students)
Indigenous
= 1.7% of total
45 (15 students)

8. Word Counts P/K/R Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 21 51 78 104 133 Year 3
Average word count per sample
P/K/R
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4 21 51 78
104
133
Word count spread
Year 3 %
Year 4
No. of words
<50
13.8
8.9
50 – 99
41.5
28.9
100 – 199
38.0
45.8
200 – 299
6.0
13.1
300 – 400
<1.0
2.5
>400
Students in their first year of school are averaging 21 words per writing sample, but as can be seen in this table, by the time they are in Years 3 & 4, the average has risen to 104 & 133 words respectively.
Notable too is the word count spread. You’ll observe that 13.8% of Year 3s wrote less than 50 words while the highest percentage (41.5%) wrote between words.
The range was no less dramatic for Year 4s with 8.9% writing less than 50 words and the highest percentage (45.8%) writing between words.
Comparatively few students wrote more than 200 words. In Year 3 it was less than 8% and in Year 4 it was less than 16%.
Interestingly, by comparison with the writing samples collected in Stage 1 of the study, each writing sample in the Stage 2 study averaged only three new words.

9. Text Types 1st year - Yr 4 P/K/R % Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Narrative 17 31 48
55.6
58.9
Recount 58 50 40
25.1
22.8
Description 15
7.2
5.6
10.6
Discussion
<1
Explanation
Exposition
2.1
1.3
1.0
2.8
Info Report
5.3 6
3.1
Poetry
2.3
Procedure
2.6
Response
3.4
1.7
Other
1.4
Data from the combined research studies encompassing students from First year of school to Year 4 reveals that 58% of writing samples were recounts in the first year and that recounts were less often written the longer students were at school.
Conversely, relative to years at school, students are increasingly writing more narratives. Where in the first year the rate was 17%, it increased to 31% in Year 1, to 48% in Year 2, to 55.6% in Year 3 and to 58.9% in Year 4. This escalation in the writing of narratives may reflect students’ increased engagement with fantasy perhaps through the influence of media: television, movies, and the Internet or maybe it’s come about through specific genre teaching, or targeted instruction focused on the NAPLAN.
By comparison, different text types used in the Stage 1 study: description, discussion, explanation, exposition, information report, poetry, procedure, response and other, were near 25% in the first year of school, 19% in Year 1, and 14% in Year 2. By Years 3 & 4, these other text types were written in less than 20% of the samples.

10. Words on OWL+ but not on OWL (136 words)
Unique Words
Words on OWL+ but not on OWL (136 words)
any
anything
arrived
been
before
both
box
boys
brown
bus
can't
chocolate
class
clothes
cold
cool
dark
days
decided
died
I'll
kept
kicked
kids
king
knew
land
later
left
let
different
doing
drove
each
eating
end
even
everything
excited
eyes
face
felt
few
finally
fire
forest
front
getting
ghost
giant
girls
give
goal
gold
gone
green
ground
gun
hair
hand
happened
hard
having
hear
heard
hit
hole
hot
hour
hours
While the Stage 2 Oxford Wordlist research study database holds over words there are only new words that were used uniquely by this Year 3 & 4 cohort. Many words were written again and again by students, no matter what the demographics: gender, school year, school setting, location, language background, and indigenous identification, or the topic. However, by comparison with the Stage 1 study there is a significant increase in the number of unique words used by students in Years 3 & 4.

11. Unique Words (cont) let's life light live looking minutes money most
mother
never
no one
nothing
open
opened
parents
person
pet
police
puppy
quickly
rain
ready
replied
right
run
running
same
sat
say
screamed
second
shot
should
shouted
six
small
soon
space
stay
stop
stopped
story
stuff
suddenly
sunny
tell
ten
than
think
thought
through
top
town
under
used
wait
wasn't
way
week
which
while
whole
window
year
years
yelled

12. Implications for educators
Anne Bayetto
Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2008 Oxford Wordlist no matter what their year level.
Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2010 Oxford Wordlist Plus.
Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2008 Oxford Wordlist no matter what their year level.
This list has been shown through the Stage 1 research study in the writing of the first three years of school to be the starting point for our writers and could also be used at end of the Early Years to measure distance travelled.
Pre-assess students’ spelling knowledge of words in the 2010 Oxford Wordlist Plus
For words that are so regularly written by all students we cannot assume they are able to be automatically and fluently spelled. Either we know what students can spell or we find out.
Words that students can already spell should not be included in their spelling programs
Time is too precious to have students re-doing what they already securely know. Rather than powering-down, they need to power-up and to be given opportunity to aim for their next ambitious but achievable spelling goals.
Words that students can already spell should not be included in their spelling programs.

13. Implications for educators
Unknown words need to be taught.
Unknown words need to be taught
Teach students how to spell these 404 high-frequency words. It is prudent to explain to students why these words are so compelling to learn and so liberating to be able to write. Teaching students how to spell is different to having students doing what Calkins describes as ‘literacy arts and crafts’ and in our case what we can describe as ‘spelling arts and crafts’. The ability to spell words is a complex cognitive process and educators need to handover this knowledge through explicit teaching and provision of meaningful learning experiences.
Words in Oxford Wordlist Plus may be used as a springboard
Developing phonic generalisations
Identifying letter patterns
Understanding morphology and becoming fascinated by the history and origin of words: their etymology
Develop students’ spoken and written vocabulary
Relatively few new words were written by Years 3 & 4 students and it is recommended that vocabulary development be part of every educator’s literacy programming. What we know from research is that students rarely learn new words by listening to, or speaking with, adults. Why? Because adults moderate their vocabulary so students can understand what they are talking about or asking them to do. More often, students learn new words from being read to and by reading many texts. The interrelatedness of reading and writing, and therefore spelling, is very strong indeed.
Educators need to develop in students the ability to be, what linguist W. N. Francis called, word lovers, collectors and connoisseurs. Educators written by Isabel Beck’s book “Bringing words to life” or ‘Words their way” by Donald Bear and colleagues are great reads about how to develop vocabulary.
Teach students how to write more complex sentences
Max Kemp in the 1980s, and more recently, Peter Westwood, has championed the need to explicitly teach students how to combine simple sentences into longer and more interesting sentences. Examples from literature, modeled lessons and many opportunities to write, especially when it is linked with the teaching of conjunctions, would likely see students writing more readable texts.
Words in Oxford Wordlist Plus may be used as a springboard.
Develop students’ spoken and written vocabulary.
Teach students how to write more complex sentences.

14. Implications for educators
Consolidate students’ understanding of regular and irregular verbs.
Tread carefully when putting quantity of words ahead of quality.
Adverbs enhance verbs.
Consolidate students’ understanding of regular and irregular verbs
Verb usage in the writing samples was generally unsurprising and for the most part verbs written did not effectively and precisely describe the action. It is recommended that educators teach students how to use more descriptive verbs. While students may have been asked to use more interesting words, if they are only familiar with a word such as got, then that is what will be written. How are they to know that obtained, acquired, found, searched out, got hold of, picked up, caught, and became, will more tantalisingly draw in readers than using the word ‘got’?
Tread carefully when putting quantity of words written ahead of quality of words written
Remember, you get what you ask for!
Adverbs enhance verbs
Few adverbs were noted in this data set. Introduce adverbs to increase students’ word knowledge and word selection opportunities.
Prepositions have a place!
Expand students’ options for use by teaching them how they may be used.
Keep building knowledge about compound words
Ensure students understand that compound words are composed of two individual words.
Prepositions have a place!
Keep building knowledge about compound words.

15. Implications for educators
Expand pronoun knowledge.
Increase expertise in the use of adjectives.
Keep teaching comparatives and superlatives.
Expand pronoun knowledge
Some personal pronouns were evident in the data set and it is now time to introduce other forms of pronouns. We’re aware of personal pronouns that refer to number, gender and case but what about personal pronouns that are subjective, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite, reflexive, and intensive. By this stage you’re possibly thinking intensive as in intensive care but instruction does not have to be dull; it can be personalised and it can be fascinating.
Increase expertise in the use of adjectives
New adjectives used were mostly tied to descriptions of concrete items so it is timely to introduce other forms. There’s a whole world out there of possessive, demonstrative, interrogative and indefinite adjectives just waiting to be used.
Keep teaching comparatives and superlatives
Media advertisements could be seen as helpful or problematic here. How do we respond to students who see items described as biggerest and bestest?
Designated NAPLAN text types aren’t the only genre to be taught
The writing task for May 11 this year (2010) is again a narrative. However, writing is so much more than stories.
Designated NAPLAN text types aren’t the only genre to be taught.

16. “Words form the thread on which we string our experiences”
In summary...
“Words form the thread on which we string our experiences”
Aldous Huxley
Apprenticing students about how to learn to spell high frequency words is part of a balanced and comprehensive approach to teaching and learning. It has a major impact on the writing that students do. As Bear and his colleagues attested, becoming fully literate is absolutely dependent on “…fast, accurate production of words in writing so that readers and writers can focus their attention on making meaning. ”