Home  Michael  AAC  Language:  Core Words:  3-4 Yrs  Interview  Starter  General  Dolch

Words: Mick  Mum  English  Teachers  Databases:  LAM & PeRT  Progress Monitor  Flashcards

 
Total Composite Word Frequency List: 100 most frequently occurring words from an Interview with an AAC User
No.
Word
Frequency

% of Sample

No.
Word
Frequency

% of Sample

No.
Word
Frequency

% of Sample
1 I 475 6.20 35 Because 36 0.47 69 Years 22 0.27
2 The 262 3.42 36 So 36 0.47 70 All 21 0.27
3 To 255 3.33 37 When 36 0.47 71 Help 21 0.26
4 And 210 2.74 38 No 35 0.46 72 She 21 0.26
5 A 169 2.21 39 Just 34 0.44 73 Strategy 21 0.26
6 It 129 1.68 40 About 33 0.43 74 Then 21 0.25
7 Is 101 1.32 41 Had 33 0.43 75 As 20 0.25
8 Was 101 1.32 42 Words 33 0.43 76 Get 19 0.25
9 That 100 1.31 43 Are 32 0.42 77 If 19 0.25
10 In 98 1.28 44 I'm 32 0.42 78 Speech 18 0.23
11 Of 92 1.20 45 Not 30 0.39 79 Most 18 0.23
12 My 82 1.07 46 Well 30 0.39 80 Now 18 0.23
13 You 80 1.04 47 How 29 0.38 81 School 18 0.23
14 Yes 79 1.03 48 Them 29 0.38 82 Which 17 0.22
15 for 77 1.00 49 It's 28 0.37 83 Who 17 0.22
16 Have 68 0.89 50 Or 28 0.37 84 Out 17 0.22
17 Like 68 0.89 51 Time 28 0.35 85 Pathfinder 17 0.22
18 Me 58 0.76 52 Would 28 0.35 86 Their 17 0.22
19 Do 57 0.74 53 Going 27 0.34 87 Unity 16 0.21
20 On 56 0.73 54 Will 27 0.34 88 Actually 16 0.21
21 People 56 0.73 55 Use 27 0.33 89 Could 16 0.21
22 But 54 0.70 56 This 27 0.30 90 Device 16 0.21
23 Know 54 0.70 57 There 26 0.30 91 First 16 0.21
24 With 53 0.69 58 Work 26 0.30 92 Word 16 0.21
25 They 51 0.67 59 Say 25 0.29 93 Been 16 0.20
26 What 47 0.61 60 From 23 0.29 94 Better 15 0.20
27 Am 43 0.56 61 Go 23 0.29 95 Different 20 0.26
28 Be 43 0.56 62 Got 23 0.29 96 Really 20 0.26
29 Don't 42 0.55 63 Can 22 0.29 97 Things 20 0.26
30 At 41 0.54 64 Liberator 22 0.29 98 Two 19 0.25
31 He 41 0.54 65 More 22 0.29 99 Did 19 0.25
32 We 40 0.52 66 Need 22 0.27 100 However 19 0.25
33 Think 38 0.50 67 Some 22 0.27  
34 One 37 0.48 68 Want 22 0.27  

 

Language sample provided by Professor Bruce Baker, Minspeak Study Day, Portland College, Mansfield, UK, March 2003.

Only a small number of Nouns exist in the top 100 words of any language sample, and nouns are topic specific, that is to say that the same nouns do not occur in every language sample.
However, most of the same pronouns, determiners, adverbs, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions and articles do occur most frequently in every language sample, because these words form the core of everybody’s language.

They are the building blocks of our language, used by all populations across all environments, and without which language cannot be generated, and communication cannot take place.

The nouns: ‘Words’, ‘Liberator’, ‘Strategy’, ‘Speech’, ‘Pathfinder’, ‘Unity’ & ‘Device’ are examples of words that are specific to the context of the interview from which this language sample was collected.

 

What size was the total language sample?
What percentage of it do these 100 words represent?

 
100 words = ?% of Total Language Sample

 

There are around 500,000 words in English, 20,000 of which are considered common and used by everyday people. (Gail M Van Tatenhove, PA, What is Minspeak? 1996)

Starter Vocabulary and more from Gail's website

Do we really use just a few hundred words for over three quarters of everything we say?
See 'Core Words...' (Column 5) in the Word Usage Analysis Table below:

 

Word Usage Analysis of Teens & Young Adults

Word Usage Analysis Table provided by Professor Bruce Baker, Minspeak Study Day, Portland College, Mansfield, March 2003 (colours ours). We added column 5 to show at a glance what portion of each language sample those few hundred words, that make up the core of our language, represent.

 

CORE VOCABULARY
Typically, the first 50 (most frequently occurring) words will account for 40%-50% of the total words communicated, even though they account for only ½% of a 10,000-word vocabulary. One hundred words will account for approximately 60%, 200 words - 70%, and 400 words - 80%. (Vanderheiden & Kelso, Comparative analysis of fixed vocabulary communication acceleration techniques, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 4, 1987, p196).

Whose words are in the list above? Were they produced on a communication aid? Minspeak devices were at least under discussion (indicated by the words: Device, Liberator, Pathfinder, Speech, Strategy & Unity in the sample). Were the words chosen from a given array? Were they spelled? Could the subjects spell? How was the sample data collected? Many modern devices have the facility for language activity monitoring, and the list is not dated, so it could be recent.

The description of an early language sample analysis that follows is from AAC Language Issues, downloadable from the AAC Research and Resources section of Prentke Romich's website:

VOCABULARY USE PATTERNS OF AAC USERS
Re-searchers have collected communication samples, over extended periods of time, from individuals who are operationally and socially competent with their AAC systems, and analyzed their word-use patterns. The first of these studies involved the entire body of words produced on a letter-by-letter basis over 14 days by five young adults with disabilities who used Canon Communicators (Beukelman, Yorkston, Poblete, & Naranjo, 1984).

From a composite list that consisted of all words produced by all five individuals, experimenters identified the 500 most frequently occurring words. Approximately 80% of the words communicated by the five individuals were represented by these 500 most frequently occurring words.

VOCABULARY RESOURCES
Rarely does one individual have enough knowledge and experience to select all the vocabulary items needed by an AAC user in a specific environment. Rather, it is necessary to obtain this vocabulary information from a variety of sources. AAC teams have used three sources to identify core vocabularies for specific individuals:

  • word lists based on the vocabulary-use patterns of other successful AAC system users,
  • word lists based on the use patterns of the specific individual, and
  • word lists based on the performance of natural speakers or writers in similar contexts.

David R. Beukelman & Pat Mirenda, Augmentative and Alternative Communication Management of Severe Communication Disorders in Children and Adults. Second Edition, Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1998, pp 32-33.