Donald P. Hayes
Speaking and writing: Distinct patterns of word choice
Cornell University
natural conversations popular television shows provide sufficient lexical diversity children develop novice levels lexical expertise illsuited developing higher levels expertise large part due distinct patterns word choice speaking writing patterns revealed halfmillion word corpus designed represent major language sources print television conversation sample text first compared common 10000type reference lexicon permits comparisons texts different language sources pattern word choice printed texts described simple linear equation conversations fit one another cubic equation linear scurve texts differ relative use major articles conjunctions prepositions pronouns function words well common rarer content words ranking 10 common function words uncorrelated two patterns consequently conversations college graduates closely resemble preschool childs speech parents texts newspapers implications linear scurved patterns models lexical acquisition considered