Resumen de Some Thoughts on the Issue of Core Vocabularies: A Response to Vaclav Brezina and Dana Gablasova: ‘Is There a Core General Vocabulary?’ Introducing the New General Service List

Gabriele Stein

• Is it possible to identify within the vast vocabulary of any language a central part which would serve as a basis for learners to master general communication, for teachers to focus on, for textbook writers to use in the production of teaching material, and for examination boards to assess lexical achievement? The usefulness of such a basic or core vocabulary would consist in making it possible for language learners to paraphrase more complex lexical content (for which more specialized vocabulary is needed) in items of the core vocabulary and understand paraphrases expressed by core vocabulary items. Usefulness is closely linked to meaning: more specialized lexical items can be rendered by a combination of generic and less specific ones. Thus a learner who does not know the word sleeve can paraphrase using words such as arm, and clothes, coat, or shirt. Frequency...