A Corpus Study on the Technical Words Occurring in the First Year Higher National Diploma in English

Abstract

: The field of accountancy is crucial for businesses and organizations, providing valuable financial information for decision-making, regulatory compliance, and overall financial health assessment. Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) programs serve as an essential stepping stone for individuals aspiring to pursue a successful career in this field. As part of the first-year curriculum for HNDA, students are introduced to a plethora of technical terms and specialized language unique to the domain of accountancy. These terms play a pivotal role in establishing a strong foundation for the students and prepare them for advanced courses in subsequent years. While educational institutions have continuously strived to deliver high-quality teaching materials and lectures, there is limited research on the specific technical words that are most prevalent in the first-year HNDA program. This lack of comprehensive information creates challenges for educators in designing targeted teaching strategies to ensure students' optimal understanding and retention of subject matter. To address this research gap, the current study aims to conduct a thorough corpus analysis of technical words occurring in the first-year HNDA program. A corpus is a structured collection of written or spoken texts, which, in this context, will be comprised of textbooks, lecture notes, and other relevant study materials used in the HNDA program. By utilizing corpus linguistics techniques, the study seeks to identify and analyze the most frequent and contextually significant technical words encountered by first-year HNDA students. The research will involve collecting a substantial corpus and employing advanced software tools to extract relevant data, including frequency counts, concordances, and collocations. Additionally, the study will investigate the semantic relationships between technical terms to uncover their interconnections and conceptual hierarchies. The findings of this study will hold substantial implications for both academia and industry.