A cross cultural comparison of the consideration and use of politeness strategies in making spoken invitations between english and vietnamese speakers

PEOPLES’ COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE
THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

AN ANALYSIS ON GENRE AND LEXICAL DENSITY OF
10 READING TEXTS IN THE GRADE 10TH
EXPERIMENTAL ENGLISH TEXTBOOK IN VIETNAM
MAJOR: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CODE: 8220201
A thesis submitted to the
Faculty of Foreign Languages
In partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English
By
DINH TAN THO

Supervised by
NGUYEN VU PHUONG, Ph.D.

BINH DUONG, SEPTEMBER 2019



STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this master thesis and that I have
not used any other sources than those listed in the bibliography and identified as
references. Wherever reference of others is involved, every effort is made to indicate
the source clearly with the title, name of the author, year of publishing and page
number. I further declare that I have not submitted this thesis at any other institution
in order to obtain a degree.
Binh Duong, 2019

DINH TAN THO

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To finish this thesis, I have received tremendous assistances and advice from
my teachers, my friends and my colleagues. In this thesis, I would like to give my
sincere thankfulness to all of them.
First, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my respectable
supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Vu Phuong, for his personalities and his valuable
consultancies to me both academically and mentally. Throughout the process of
researching and writing this thesis, he was always willing to consult me on my thesis
anytime I needed. I am also sincerely grateful to Dr. Vo Kim Ha, Dr. Nguyen Hoang
Tuan, Dr. Huynh Cong Minh Hung, Dr. Tran Quoc Thao and other lecturers of Thu Dau
Mot University for their lectures and advice during the course.
I also give my deep thankfulness to my best friend, Nguyen Ngoc Uyen and
my colleagues, Tran Minh, Trinh Huynh Chan, Nguyen Thanh Thai for assisting me
with my thesis. I would like to thank all the students who took part in my research.
Last, I would like to show my hearted feelings to my parents and my dearest
wife who are always beside and support me in difficult situations.
The study has indeed helped me to explore more scientifically knowledgeable
avenues related to my topic and surely, it will help me a lot in my teaching job in the
future.

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ABSTRACT
The study, entitled “An analysis on genre and lexical density of 10 reading

texts in the grade 10th experimental English textbook in Vietnam” was carried out to
examine 10 reading texts in the grade 10th experimental English textbook (GEETB)
in Vietnam in terms of genre and lexical density. The purposes of this study were to
find out the lexical density and genres formed in these 10 reading texts in this
textbook. The results helped the researcher evaluate which reading texts were
challenging and which were easily to be understood. In this research, descriptive
qualitative method and content analysis were used to describe lexical density and
determine genre of reading text. The data of this research were the 10 English reading
texts in the grade 10th experimental English textbook in Vietnam. The study started
with finding the study problems, collecting data, classifying data, analyzing data,
discussing data and drawing conclusion. The findings showed that ten reading texts
in this textbook were formed by three genres of reading text namely persuasive
reading text, informational reading text and biography. The findings indicated that 10
reading texts were not balanced in terms of genre and lexical density and have not met
the expectation of students. The lexical diversity used in these 10 reading texts was
not logical for learning process. It is suggested that in the further revision of this
textbook, writers should be more concerned with genre and lexical density of the
reading texts so that the textbook can provide learners with various genres of reading
text and a balance of lexical density. Besides, lexical density used in these reading
texts should be logical increase from unit one to unit ten.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Page
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .......................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................. vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF APPENDICES.......................................................................................... xi
Charter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................1
1.1 Background of the study ......................................................................................1
1.2 Rationale for the study.........................................................................................3
1.3 Objectives and research questions ......................................................................4
1.4 Scope of the study .................................................................................................5
1.5 Significance of the study ......................................................................................5
1.6 Organization of the study ....................................................................................6
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Literature Review ...................................................................................6
Chapter 3: Research Methodology and Methods....................................................6
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion .........................................................................7
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications ................................................................7
Charter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................8
2.1. Theoretical Background .....................................................................................8
2.1.1 Genre ..................................................................................................................8
2.1.1.1. Definitions of genre .......................................................................................8
2.1.1.2. Impact of genre of reading text on learners’ reading comprehension ...10
2.1.2.1. Definitions of lexical density.......................................................................12
2.1.2.1.1 Grammatical Items ...................................................................................13

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2.1.2.1.2 Lexical Items ..............................................................................................13
2.1.2.1.2.1. Noun .......................................................................................................14

2.1.2.1.2.2. Verb ........................................................................................................14
2.1.2.1.2.3. Adjective.................................................................................................14
2.1.2.1.2.4. Adverb ....................................................................................................15
2.1.2.2. Impact of lexical density on reading texts.................................................15
2.1.3. Reading texts...................................................................................................17
2.1.3.1. Definitions of reading texts.........................................................................17
2.1.3.2. Functions of a reading text .........................................................................17
2.2. Practical background ........................................................................................18
2.2.1. Previous studies on lexical density ................................................................18
2.2.2. Previous studies on genre of reading texts ...................................................19
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................20
3.1. Research design .................................................................................................20
3.2. Research context, participants and sample ....................................................21
3.2.1. Research context.............................................................................................21
3.2.2. The research participants ...............................................................................21
3.2.3. Research sample .............................................................................................21
3.3. Data collection ...................................................................................................22
3.3.1 Data collection instruments ............................................................................22
3.3.2. Data collection procedure ..............................................................................24
3.4. Data analysis ......................................................................................................26
3.4.1. Content analysis .............................................................................................26
3.4.2. Thematic analysis ...........................................................................................27
3.5. Significance of the study ...................................................................................27
3.6. Trustworthiness of the study ............................................................................28
3.7. Ethical considerations .......................................................................................30
3.8. Chapter summary .............................................................................................30
Chapter 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ..........................................................31

v

4.1. Document analysis ............................................................................................41
4.1.1. Data from the first research question ..........................................................41
4.1.2. Data from the second research question ......................................................41
4.1.3. Data from the third research question .........................................................41
4.1.3.1 Factors impact students’ reading comprehension ability ........................41
4.1.3.2. Learners’ preference of genre of reading text ..........................................43
4.2. Students’ diaries of learning process ...............................................................45
Chapter 5. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ..........................................49
5.3.1. Limitations in participants ..............................................................................52
5.3.2. Limitations in scope of the study .....................................................................52
5.3.3. Limitations in methodologies ..........................................................................52
5.4. Suggestions for further research .....................................................................53
RESEARCH SUMMARY ...........................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
PUBLISHED PAPERS ............................................................................................54
REFERENCES .........................................................................................................55
APPENDICES ..........................................................................................................59

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EFL: English as a foreign language
ELT: English Language teaching
ESL: English as a second language
GEETB: Grade 10th experimental English textbook (“Tiếng Anh 10 – Sách Thí
Điểm”)
L2: Second language
Ministry of Education and Training (MoET)
NGCSE: the National General Certificate Secondary Examination

V. s. P. Minister: Vietnam’s Prime Minister

vii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1

The content of the reading Sections in the GEETB ......................21

Table 3.2 Methods of data analysis in response to the research questions and
instruments ......................................................................................................22
Table 4.1 Reading Texts and Its Genres .......................................................... 27
Table 4.2. The Classification of Lexical Items in the Reading Texts .............29
Table 4.3 Genre, lexical items and lexical density in the 10 reading texts ......32
Table 4.4. Genre, lexical items and lexical density in the 10 reading texts .....33
Table 4.5 Learners’ awareness of genres and lexical density .......................... 39

viii


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1 The proportion of 10 reading texts in term of genre ......................28
Figure 4.2 Lexical items ..................................................................................30
Figure 4.3 Lexical density of 10 reading texts .................................................31
Figure 4.4 Factors help students in reading comprehension ............................ 35
Figure 4.5 Genre(s) suggested being taught more in reading classes ..............36
Figure 4.6 Students’ diaries about their awareness of genre and lexical density
.......................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 4.7 Students’ improvement in reading comprehension ....................... 38

ix


LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................... 60
Students’ questionnaire
APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................... 65
Student’s diary taking notes of learning reading comprehension by genre based
instructions and lexical density
APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................... 70
Interview questions
APPENDIX D ......................................................................................................... 71
Lexical density of 10 reading texts
APPENDIX E ....................................................................................................... 75
A scan of 10 reading texts
APPENDIX F
A scan of answered students’ questionnaire and diaries

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Charter 1. INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the background and rationale for the study. Then the
objectives, research questions, significance and organization will be mentioned, too.
Most importantly, the research questions are set out in this chapter to work as the
guidelines for the whole research.
1.1. Background of the study
Textbooks play an important role in helping learners achieve learning
outcomes of a program. According to Oanh ( 2011), textbooks should have contents

helping students develop their creativity, motivation and communication in a lively
way. Feez (2002, as cited in Rahmansyah (2012b)) states that textbook in curriculum
is a plan that gives guidance in the teaching learning process activities and as a
stimulus or instrument for teaching and learning academic knowledge, logical ideas
and cultural values, and as a pedagogical tool ((Choppin, 1980); (Thomson, 2000))
In Vietnam, textbooks have been reformed three times since 1981 to meet the
new demands of learning and teaching. In 2000, to carry out the Vietnamese
Government’s Resolution No.40/2000/QH10 renovating the general education
program, Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) announced a nationwide
project of textbook reform. Since this textbook reform, Vietnam’s Government has
paid special attention to reforming English textbooks as well as teaching and learning
English methods in order to raise the quality of English textbooks and methods of
teaching and learning English according to international standards (Minister, 2008).
More importantly in September 2008, the Prime Minister of Vietnam made the
1400th Decision and set a clear purpose in the National foreign languages 2020 project
that “By 2020, most Vietnamese students graduating from secondary, vocational
schools, colleges and universities will be able to use a foreign language confidently
in their daily communication, their study and work in an integrated, multi –cultural
1


and multi-lingual environment, making foreign languages a competitive advantage for
Vietnamese young people in an international high-demanding labor market”
(Minister, 2008).
To obtain the purposes of the above Decision, MoET has carried out a variety
of measures to improve teaching and learning English from elementary education to
high school education. On September 10th, 2013, Vietnam’s MOET published an
experimental English textbook for class 10th named “Tiếng Anh 10 – Sách Thí Điểm”
(GEETB) to replace the current English textbook. This experimental English textbook
has been used as a pilot syllabus of English at some selected high schools in 36

provinces. In Binh Duong Province, this textbook has been used officially since the
school year 2021 -2022 in all the 10th classes of the high schools.
Its official use in all the provinces is considered as a significant change of
English textbook in Vietnam. Due to the importance of this reform, on December 14th,
2015 MOET made the Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDĐT with 44 standards to call upon
linguistics experts, English professionals and English teachers or lecturers to review
this official textbook in 2018. Nevertheless, in Binh Duong Province there has been
limited research on English textbook in aspect of reading comprehension and reading
passages so far yet.
This experimental English textbook aims to help students acquire four skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). To obtain this aim, materials for four skills
should be taken into consideration and materials for reading could be significantly
essential for students. According to Smith (2010) reading material helps learners
advance in academic settings and learn independently in an EFL or ESL context
positively. Morrow (2007) and Harmer (1998) also confirm the importance of reading
materials for enriching vocabulary, developing comprehension skill and thus

2


increasing the chance for success in learning English or another foreign language in a
pleasurable way.
Discussing the roles of material for reading, Asgarabadi, Yadollah, Afsar, and
Manouchehr (2015) state that genre of reading affect students’ competence of English
reading most. On the contrary, it is lexical density of a reading text that challenges
readers’ reading comprehension Nesia and Ginting (2014); Rahmansyah (2012a).
Text genres influence students’ reading comprehension a lot and readers need to
understand knowledge when reading science texts rather than to do only narrative
texts (Danielle, 2011); (Yasuhiro, 2000)
This study aims to identify how genre and lexical density are structured in the

reading texts in GEETB and documenting the impact of combination of genre and
lexical density on students’ reading comprehension. Findings from the study provide
insights into the content of reading material and shed light on possible strategies for
teaching reading comprehension.
1.2. Rationale for the study
Reading material plays a vital role in learning a foreign language. Meanwhile
genre and lexical density can be considered as two factors that constitute the quality
of a reading material and influence learners’ reading ability. In the structure of English
test for NGCSE (the National General Certificate Secondary Examination), the
number of questions for reading parts is 18 questions per 50 questions accounting for
34 percent of the total items of the English test. However, in the report of the National
Examination results of Phan Boi Chau High School in Binh Duong Province in 2018,
the majority of students at this school still encounter problems in reading
comprehension.
From the teaching experiences at a high school for years, the researcher realizes
that the ignorance of genres and lexical density makes students hard to achieve the
3


meaning of the reading text. They read texts without knowing that only lexical items
contain the main information of the content. Meanwhile, according to Risko, Walker,
Bridges, and Wilson (2011) understanding a wide variety of text structures and lexical
density helps students deepen their interests, engagement, and comprehension and
enhance the complexity of their compositions. Also, Hibbing and Rankin-Erickson
(2003) demonstrate that knowledge of genres is vital for students to enhance their
reading comprehension.
For the reasons mentioned above, this study is carried out to examine genres
and lexical density in 10 reading texts in GEETB published in 2013 by Vietnamese
Education Publishing House and to explore the impact of this combination on students
and on their reading comprehension. Therefore, “an analysis on genre and lexical

density of 10 reading texts in the grade 10th experimental English textbook in
Vietnam” is chosen as the topic of thesis.
1.3. Objectives and research questions
This research concentrates on analyzing the extent of lexical density and genres
of the reading materials and documenting the impact of the combination of genre and
lexical density on students’ reading comprehension. Thus the objectives of the study
are: (i) examining how lexical density in relation to genre is organized in the 10
reading texts; (ii) exploring the type of genre which has the highest lexical density in
the reading texts; (iii) documenting the extent to which students’ reading
comprehension is influenced by lexical density and genres; (iv) suggesting possible
teaching strategies and appropriate textbook designs. Therefore, the qualitative study
aims to answer the following research questions:
1. How are genre of reading text and lexical density formed in ten reading
texts in the grade 10th experimental English textbook in Vietnam?
2. Which genre in these reading texts has the highest lexical density?

4


3. What are students’ perception about factors affecting on reading
comprehension and what genres interest students in reading
comprehension?
1.4. Scope of the study
This research aims to examine lexical density in relation to genres in 10th grade
reading texts in GEETB published in 2013 by Vietnamese Education Publishing
House. It also focused on exploring students’ perception of the impact of genres and
lexical density on their reading comprehension. The study is descriptive qualitative
research in nature
1.5. Significance of the study
For theoretical significance, the study is a critical examination of the

association of lexical density with genre in 10 reading texts in GEETB.
In theory, the thesis is designed to study genre of reading text and lexical
density in 10 reading texts in GEETB. This book will be applied widely at high
schools across the country in the school year 2022-2023 (Newspaper" (December
28th, 2018)). According to Minh (2007), it is important for textbooks to be carefully
analyzed and chosen before being applied for a language program with the purpose to
help the management select the most appropriate materials available for a particular
course. For this reason, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has
appealed linguistics experts to evaluate the contents in GEETB. However, my search
on the internet showed that there has been limited research on this textbook so far.
Thoughtfully, the research is essential in this time because few researchers study the
same topic in this book while this textbook will be soon adopted in all high schools
across the country. For that reason, it is thought that the findings of the research will
be useful and necessary for high school teachers of English. Moreover, the findings

5


will help the researcher have an overall insight about the reading materials that will
help the researcher to discover solutions to increase the students’ reading competence.
In practice, this thesis will help high school students understand genres and
lexical density of reading texts, which helps them learn reading skill better. They can
easily understand texts, upgrade vocabulary and acquire updated information. Thanks
to this useful knowledge, the students can convey their ideas figuratively in written as
well as in spoken language and the same time widen their minds about the world.
In other words, the findings of the research may bring an overall insight about
the ability to improve students’ English reading competence and shed lights on the
appropriate adjustments in English textbooks for students in Binh Duong Province.
1.6. Organization of the study
The overall structure of the study consists of five chapters including (1)

Introduction, (2) Literature Review, (3) Methodology, (4) Findings and Discussion
and (5) Conclusions and Implications.
Chapter 1: Introduction
In this chapter, the researcher presents the rationale, scope, aims and
objectives, research questions, significance as well as organization of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter reviews the previous studies related to the problem under
investigation. The theoretical background such as theory of textbooks, reading skill,
reading materials, genres and lexical density are mentioned.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology and Methods

6


The research methods, data collection, description of samples, data analysis,
and research procedures of the study are mentioned in details clearly in this charter.
The validity and reliability of the study is also presented.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion
The research results about analysis and evaluation in terms of genre, and
lexical density of the 10 reading texts are presented and discussed critically. At the
same time, documenting the impact of genre and lexical density on students’ reading
comprehension is also introduced.
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications
In this chapter, the researcher summarizes the major findings of the
investigation, puts forward the implications for teaching and learning reading skills
and points out the limitations of the study. Some suggestions are also raised for further
studies about this textbook in all aspects.
Chapter 6: Research Summary
This chapter gives an overall summary of the research. The aims,
participants, methods, data and findings of the study have been briefly introduced in

this chapter.

7


Charter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Theoretical background
The main purpose of this chapter is to position this thesis within the broader
existing literature. The chapter discusses theoretical background of studies related to
genre and lexical density then reading text that I draw on in this thesis with 10 reading
texts in the grade 10th English experimental textbook (GEETB) in Vietnam. They
include definitions of genre and lexical density then definition of reading text. The
impacts of these features on students’ reading comprehension are also mentioned after
that.
2.1.1. Genre
2.1.1.1. Definitions of genre
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary has a definition of genre as “a
particular type or style of literature, art, film or music that you can recognize because
of its special features”"Oxford Dictionary" 2000). Yan (2017), Veneziano and
Nicolopoulou (2019) state that genre refers to a particular type of text such as
narrative, descriptive, argumentative or expository texts, an information book or a
storybook and adding that in linguistics, genre may also refer to the structure of the
text – distinguishing features of the text and how they are put together to make the
text suitable for a particular purpose. Duke and Purcell-Gates (2003) and Liang (2015)
says that a genre is a form of text that uses a particular format and structure. Ferguson
(1994) and Lee (2001) also state that genre focuses more on the text types. It is
necessary for students from the primary grades to know that there are various kinds
of text and each has its own features, purposes, and conventions. Meanwhile,
according to Gurkosh and Hassan (2015) genre does not mean only a text-type but
also the role of the text in the community within which it has been created, adding

8


that as part of functional linguistic paradigm genre is how we use language to live and
mobilize language.
Mentioning to genre of reading, Y. H. Asgarabadi, Afsar, and Manouchehr
(2015) considers it as genre of reading texts or text genre. Beng, Yuen, and Keong
(2015) confirm that genre of reading is different types of texts. Gurkosh and Hassan
(2015) says there are two kinds of important text genres: The first comprises texts
adopted from the scientific and technological context while the other is made up of
texts from the arts and social sciences. Shokouhi Hossein (2010) suggests that the
concept of genre of reading implies the consideration of socio-cultural conventions
that exist around texts when measuring readers’ comprehension of a text. This author
confirms that genre of reading should be the means of communicative purpose and
can influence learners’ reading comprehension.
Marton (2012) determines that there are two kinds of text genre: main genre
and subgenre. Main genre includes fiction, nonfiction, folk tale, drama and poetry
while subgenres contain autobiography, biography, comedy, essay, fable, fairy tale,
historical fiction, informational text, legend, myth, science fiction, tale, technical
writing and tragedy. In this thesis, the researcher chooses the genre theory of Liang
(2015) to identify genre of reading text for ten reading texts. Liang’s definition is that
“a genre is a class of texts with similar characteristics such as structure, style, content,
intended audience, social purpose and communicative purpose” (page 7). Yan (2017)
also states that genre is a particular type of text such as narrative, descriptive,
argumentative or expository texts. From the definitions of these two researchers, it
can be included that genre of reading text is type of reading texts.
This study focuses on three genres of reading text: (1) persuasive reading text
(2) informational reading text and (3) biography. Gallo (2013) states that
informational reading text is a kind of nonfiction text that provides factual accounts

conveying information and providing a variety of instructional benefits for young
9


learners. Marton (2012) defines informational reading text as a text which provides
information on a topic and persuasive reading text as a text which attempts to
influence the reader and biography as a text in which the story of one’s life told by
another.
2.1.1.2. Impact of genre of reading text on learners’ reading
comprehension
Genre of reading text impacts on learners’ reading ability but also provides
learners with opportunities to be accustomed to a variety of reading types. In order to
meet learners’ various needs in learning to read, there should be a variety of genres of
reading text. Gallo (2013) says that genre of reading text helps students build the
background knowledge of the world and of domain- specific topics. Douglas (1987)
agree that genre of reading text is essential for learners to improve their vocabulary
and to understand the texts because each genre of reading text has different range of
vocabulary. Douglas (1987) and

Shokouhir Hossein (2010) also states that

acquaintance with content and context of a type of text is a crucial factor in reading
comprehension. Each component in a reading text plays a significant but different role
in comprehension. More importantly, Gurkosh and Hassan (2015) and Y. H.
Asgarabadi et al. (2015) conclude in their research that genre of reading text
influences the students' reading comprehension. Therefore, even advanced English
learners will experience difficulty with unfamiliar styles and genre of reading
(Suzanne, 2007).
Petros, Norgaard, Olson, and Tabor (1989) also state that reading ability is
influenced by genre of reading text. Understanding genre of reading text, students can

explore the social purposes and social location in a text through reading. According
to Vera, Carmen, Percy, Ana, and Elvira (2016) students understand that there is
greater density in narrative stories, followed by persuasive letters, and informative

10


news reports and they add that the concept of quality denotes a broad diversity of
vocabulary through the use of syntax and greater complexity, which make students
realize the challenges and expectations of a reading text. In agreement with this
statement, Johns (2011) states that awareness of genre of reading text helps students
predict the aims of reading texts at the same time helps them obtain communicative
purposes (Petros et al., 1989).
From above-mentioned impact of genre of reading on reading comprehension,
obviously, genre is not just a form or a structure of reading texts but it relates to many
other significant aspects of language such as social science, culture, communicative
values. Most importantly, all the researchers have the same opinion that genre of
reading greatly influences on learners’ reading competence. With the knowledge of
genre, students can predict the main content in a reading text first and have a briefly
overall understanding about the text before reading it intensively. Genre helps learners
focus on main ideas and understand the text better. According to Marton (2012),
understanding genre of reading will help learners know what to expect from a text
based on its genre. Students will easily recognize that narrative text tells a story,
persuasive text is written to persuade a reader, and informational text is written to give
the reader facts or reporting text written to report something and so on. Therefore, by
using genre –based instruction, the teacher not only motivates the students to be eager
in learning reading comprehension but also helps them have better perception of
varied reading text types. As a result, they easily guess the purpose of the reading text
that they need to obtain before starting reading any kind of text. Recognition of
various types of reading text motivates L2 students to practice more reading and yield

better results (Armstrong, 2009); (Linda & Bruce, 1999). For these rational reasons,
reading texts in GEETB should be analyzed in terms of genre.

11


2.1.2. Lexical density
2.1.2.1. Definitions of lexical density
According to Anderson (2007); Castello (2008); To (2013); Nesia and Ginting
(2014) the role of lexical density in reading texts is significant. It determines if the
reading material is too difficult or appropriate for students. For that reason, the lexical
density of 10 reading texts in GEETB is the second aspect to be analyzed and
evaluated in this thesis.
Lexical density of a reading text is the number of words used in the text. It
contains lexical items or content words and grammatical items or function words (Ure
1971, cited as Nesia and Ginting (2014)). Halliday (1985, cited as in To (2013));
Thornbury (2017), (Caswell, 1998; Linda & Bruce, 1999); To (2013) state that lexical
items consist of all nouns, adjectives, main verbs and some adverbs while grammatical
items consist of determiners, all pronouns, most prepositions, conjunctions, finite
verbs, and some classes of adverb. According to Thornbury (2017), lexical density is
a measure of the ratio of the text content words to its function words. Ure ((1971)
cited as in Nesia and Ginting (2014)) often calls these items as content words or open
class words. Vera et al. (2016) divide lexical density into the use of syntax and greater
complexity. These two indicators related to these concepts are lexical sophistication
and lexical density. Lexical sophistication refers to the employment of infrequent and
more complex vocabulary and the use of longer words with more elaborate syllable
structures. These words help the writer to express their intentions in an exact and
sophisticated way R. John (2000). Lexical density refers to the quantity of content
vocabulary presented in a text. Content vocabulary are words that have semantic
relevance, both in isolation and within the context of the sentence; these words are

normally identified as nouns, adjectives, non-auxiliary verbs, and adverbs. According
to Halliday, the lexical item is a part of an open set that can be contrasted with a

12


number of items in the world. A grammatical item, on the other hand, enters into a
closed system. Meanwhile, lexical quality, or richness according to A Vila (1991) is
multidimensional, thus cannot be evaluated as a single indicator but rather through a
composite of diverse factors. However, the way lexical density is defined and counted
in research is a little bit different for each author. Halliday ((1985 cited as in Johansson
(2008)) defines lexical density differently from Ure (1971) does. For example,
Halliday defines turn up as one lexical item, while Ure confirms it as one lexical item
turn and one grammatical item up. In short, there have been numerous ways to define
lexical density of reading text.
All researchers agree to classify lexical density into lexical items or content
words and grammatical items or function words. It is content words that help writers
express their ideas and decide the challenge of a reading text.
Halliday states that a lexical item is part of an open set, that can be contrasted
with a number of items in the world. Johansson (2008) defines that lexical items are
the main content words carrying information. In conclusion, lexical items or content
words are parts that bear most information in a reading text and called as open classes
in which new words can be added.
2.1.2.1.1 Grammatical items
According to Halliday (cited as in Nesia and Ginting (2014)), unlike lexical
items, grammatical items are those that function in closed system because the new
words are not easily added. In the English language, grammatical items include
auxiliary verb, determiner, pronoun, most prepositions, conjunctions, and some
classes of adverb.
2.1.2.1.2 Lexical items

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