Lexical Richness of L2 Production Using Nation and Laufer's Lexical Frequency Profile

The study assessed the essays’ lexical richness in two hundred words each essay among the Second Year College Filipino and Nigerian students at St. Dominic College of Asia, Philippines in K1 words (1- 1,000), K2 words (1,001-2,000), Academic Word List (AWL), and Off-List Words. Essay 1 - SOGIE Bill, and Essay 2, one (1) topic of students’ choice: (2.a) Money; (2.b) Happiness; (2.c) knowledge-based economy. The descriptive- correlational design was used with frequency-percentage count and test of significant difference was computed to determine the lexical richness of the respondents’ essays. The Research Ethics Committee approved the research protocol in an expedite manner, hence; a low-risk study. The findings of the study revealed that most of the words used by Filipino and Nigerian students fall under K1 words (1-1,000) level. The lexical richness for both Filipino and Nigerian College Students’ Essays 1 and 2 showed the computed p-value of 0.000 lower than .05 alpha level. The difference is significant, hence; the null hypothesis is rejected. Therefore, there is a significant difference in the word level for Essays 1 and 2 for both respondent-groups, and there is no significant difference in the percentage of words used among K2 words level (1,001-2,000), Academic Word List (AWL), and Off-List Words. However, the Filipino and Nigerian students used OffList Words from K3 – K9 revealing the breadth of their vocabulary knowledge. Lexical frequency profile is a reliable measure on the lexical richness in L2 production. The English vocabulary of students has been enriched by their exposure and use of it in school and at home. The educational level of the parents, the availability of quality reading materials in English, and the socio-economic status of the family could be given consideration among other factors for future research undertakings