Re: the following quote:

>
>"In the past fifty years...the working vocabulary of the average 14 year
>old has declined from some 25,000 words to 10,000 word."


Statistics such as these are meaningless unless we know the research
methodology which generated such numbers.   How is "working vocabulary"
defined?  What population was used to represent the "average" 14 year old?
Are we speaking of active, or passive vocabulary (neither of which is easy
to define)?  Nor is it easy, in research terms, to determine whether
someone "knows" a word.    The media frequently cite such figures on the
"average person's vocabulary" but most of these are completely without
research credibility and cannot be verified.  For a brief but clear
discussion of the issue, you might want to consult David Crystal's book,
The English Language, in particulary the chapter on "How Large is Your
Lexicon?"




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Greta Vollmer, Asst. Professor          Sonoma State University
Department of English                   1801 E. Cotati Ave.
(707) 664-2504                          Rohnert Park, CA  94928
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