The Oxford Wordlist for Australian kids is the result of an extensive and rigorous research study conducted in Australian schools in 2007. The aim was to provide a contemporary wordlist of the most frequently used words by students in their writing in their first three years of schooling. Research of this type had not been conducted for over 30 years and there was a high demand by educators to be provided with an updated list that considers and connects the words used by our broad student community to the classroom.

Guided by the research study designed by Professor Joseph Lo Bianco and Ms Janet Scull from the University of Melbourne, Department of Language and Literacy Education, permission to conduct research was gained from the relevant education authorities.

Writing samples from students in 92 Australian classrooms were collected by classroom teachers in ‘free’ writing sessions following a set of administration guidelines to ensure consistency. In total, 3,816 samples totalling 167,000 words were entered to ensure that the voices of all Australian students were represented, including students from:

• rural and urban settings
• schools across the range of socio-economic groups
• each of the first three year levels of school
• indigenous backgrounds
• English and non-English speaking backgrounds

The Oxford Wordlist consists of the 307 most frequently used words across all groups.

Available via The Successful Teacher:

• The Oxford Wordlist interactive tool allows educators to generate lists by single or multiple demographic groups (eg year 1/boys/rural).
• As requested by the teachers involved in the study, customisable resources to assist you when working with students using the Oxford Wordlist.
• The Words Children Write: Research Summary of the Oxford Wordlist Research Study compiled and written by the University of Melbourne.