A Survey of Vocabulary in Elementary School Social Studies Textbooks:

Exploring the Characteristics of the Common Vocabulary of Social Studies

Abstract

The authors have been conducting research on the vocabulary used in elementary school textbooks with the goal of providing a Japanese language support environment for children. In this presentation, we report the results of our survey and analysis of social studies textbooks, focusing especially on vocabulary that is common to all grades. The total number of words was 133,185, and the number of different words was 8,321. The number of words increased as the school year progressed, with the number of words in the 6th grade being five times that of the 1st grade. The common words used in textbooks for all grades were mostly for learning, such as "gakushu," "yoosu"," tashikameru," "matomeru," and "hanashiau," while words specific to social studies, such as "machi-zukuri," "suii", "haku- chizu" and "sakan," were used more in grades 3 to 6.