Résumé:
Word lists have attracted an ever-growing growing attention in English as a foreign
language teaching and research.The recent introduction of English as a medium of instruction
in the Algerian system of higher education has rendered the investigation the potential of
wordlists in building students’academic vocabulary even more timely.The present research
attempted to design and validate a frequency-based wordlist for teaching vocabulary in the
domain of biology for Master One students at the University of Jijel. The development of this
wordlist followed several steps, including the analysis usingAntConc software of a
considerable corpus of digital resources corresponding to a chosen module,Experimental
model, from the syllabus destined for first year master students in pharmacology.Then,the
resulting word list was used as input to generate a concept map using ConceptMapAI.The
wordlist also used design a unit achievement test intended for measuring students’progress in
learning the vocabulary pertaining to the module in question.Finally,a self-designed
questionnaire was used to validate the use wordlist in developing vocabulary learning in EMI
courses in the domain of biology. The results revealed that the proposed wordlist successfully
identified the most frequent and relevant vocabulary items needed for biology learners.
Moreover, the results generated by the questionnaire revealed that wordlists are perceived to
be appropriate for the learners’ academic level and specific disciplinary needs. The findings
indicate that while students and teachers recognize the importance of domain-specific
vocabulary and EMI, several challenges hinder its effective use, including limited linguistic
competence and insufficient pedagogical support. In light of these findings, the study
recommends providing adequate training and resources to ensure the successful
implementation of EMI in Algerian higher education.
