Background: This small-scale study investigated English vocabulary exposure from graded readers and teacher talk in Grade 3 classrooms in poorly resourced township schools in South Africa. Vocabulary is one of the key building blocks for becoming a fluent reader. Most words are learnt through incidental exposure to oral or written language. Objectives: This study is a first attempt to investigate opportunities for incidental vocabulary exposure in poorly resourced classrooms in South Africa. Method: A corpus linguistics approach was used to analyse a written corpus of 57 143 tokens and a spoken corpus of 12 242 tokens. Results: The study showed that there are vast differences between levels of written and spoken vocabulary in the classrooms and that the role for oral vocabulary exposure in classrooms is restricted. Spoken vocabulary registered above the K-3 word frequency level largely came from teachers’ read alouds of print materials. Conclusion: The study findings show that even in contexts where print exposure is limited, oral language cannot compensate for the richness of written vocabulary. Situational constraints, such as lack of books, negatively influenced the effective use of graded readers. Opportunities for incidental vocabulary learning, as well as implications for policy and further research, are discussed.

中文翻译：

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南非乡镇学校的英语词汇暴露：陷阱和机遇

背景：这项小型研究调查了南非资源贫乏的乡镇学校三年级教室中分级读者和老师的英语词汇曝光情况。词汇是成为流利阅读器的关键要素之一。大多数单词是通过偶然接触口语或书面语言来学习的。目标：这项研究是调查南非资源贫乏的教室中偶然词汇接触机会的首次尝试。方法：语料库语言学方法用于分析57 143个标记的书面语料库和12 242个标记的口语语料库。结果：研究表明，教室中的书面和口头词汇水平存在巨大差异，并且限制了课堂中口头词汇暴露的作用。在K-3单词频率级别以上注册的口语词汇主要来自老师大声阅读的印刷材料。结论：研究发现表明，即使在印刷品暴露受限的情况下，口语也无法弥补书面词汇的丰富性。情境限制（例如书籍数量不足）对分级阅读器的有效使用产生负面影响。讨论了偶然词汇学习的机会，以及对政策和进一步研究的启示。对分级阅读器的有效使用产生负面影响。讨论了偶然词汇学习的机会，以及对政策和进一步研究的启示。对分级阅读器的有效使用产生负面影响。讨论了偶然词汇学习的机会，以及对政策和进一步研究的启示。