Reading/Writing Deficiencies
The statistics given in this part of the module I found really helpful. I like to share such concrete facts with my students when relevant. One statistic I would love to learn is the estimated number of vocabulary words the average person actually uses in day to day life.
I too find these statistics to be quite instructive. Especially with respect to vocabulary words or technical jargon, context-specific definition/application seems helpful. It's amazing how many words a student can learn by just recognizing its use in a situation.
I also thought the statistics were very helpful. Being a court reporting instructor, all of our students deal with the sounds of words. We have students who can't distinguish the different sounds. We have used flash cards to help learn long E, long I, short o, etc.
College educated english speakers use approximately 17000 base words, the question is how many are actively used versus receptive of their definitions. Daily use would depend on the frequency of conversation and the audience, eg. stay at home Mother with a small child versus a motivational speaker booked for a 12 hour seminar.
here is a study that was done to support this:
http://iteslj.org/Articles/Cervatiuc-VocabularyAcquisition.html
