LEXICAL RICHNESS ANALYSIS IN STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC WRITING: IMPLICATIONS FOR VOCABULARY MASTERY

SHABRINA, ZALFA (2026) LEXICAL RICHNESS ANALYSIS IN STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC WRITING: IMPLICATIONS FOR VOCABULARY MASTERY. Diploma thesis, IKIP PGRI BOJONEGORO.

Text Zalfa Shabrina-22120064-1-25.pdf Download (615kB)

Abstract

Shabrina, Zalfa. 2026. Lexical Richness Analysis in Students’ Academic Writing: Implications for Vocabulary Mastery. Skripsi, English Education Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts Education, IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro, Advisor (I) Ayu Fitrianingsih, S.Pd., M.Pd., (II) Oktha Ika Rahmawati, S.Pd., M.Pd. This study aimed to analyze the lexical richness of students' academic writing and to explore its implications for their vocabulary mastery. Lexical richness was examined through three dimensions: lexical density, lexical diversity, and lexical sophistication. This research employed an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, in which quantitative measurement was followed by qualitative textual analysis to provide a more detailed interpretation of the findings. The participants were 20 eighth-semester students of the English Education Department at IKIP PGRI Bojonegoro, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through a supervised, timed argumentative essay writing task and analyzed using VocabProfiler for lexical density and lexical sophistication, and TAALED (MATTR) for lexical diversity. The findings revealed that the students' academic writing was characterized by low lexical density (M = 49.05%, SD = 0.062), relatively high lexical diversity (MATTR M = 0.728, SD = 0.055), and very low lexical sophistication (M = 8.319%, SD = 0.026). Further qualitative analysis showed that the students' apparent lexical diversity was largely produced through variation among high-frequency, everyday words rather than through the use of academic or lower-frequency vocabulary. This pattern indicates that the students possess considerable breadth of productive vocabulary but have not yet developed its depth, particularly for academic purposes. These findings suggest that students' vocabulary mastery in academic writing remains limited to general communicative use, and that explicit, register-focused academic vocabulary instruction is needed to help students, especially as prospective English teachers, produce more lexically sophisticated academic writing. Keywords: lexical richness, lexical density, lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, vocabulary mastery, academic writing

Actions (login required)

View Item