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Words We Would Want: Comparison of Three Pre-programmed Vocabulary Sets With Frequently Used Words in English

I CAN Centre for Assistive Technology, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital
Edmonton, AB Canada

In this descriptive study, three pre-programmed vocabulary sets—Picture WordPower 45 location (Inman Innovations), Unity 45 Full vs. 4.06 (Prentke-Romich Company), and Gateway 60 vs. 1.06.18 (Dynavox Technologies)—were examined for word-based vocabulary content and keystrokes per word. The vocabulary contents of the each set were then compared to the thousand most common words as identified by two different listings apiece, that published in Word Frequencies in Written and Spoken English based on the British National Corpus (BNC), and Wiktionary TV/Movie Frequency Lists (2006). The pre-programmed vocabulary set best representing these frequency lists was Unity 45 Full, followed by Gateway 60 and Picture WordPower. The vocabulary sets using the fewest average keystrokes per word, based on frequency lists, were Picture WordPower and Gateway 60 followed by Unity 45 Full. Results provide an aid for evaluating the comparative merits of pre-programmed vocabulary sets, such as inclusion of frequently used English words and relative keystroke savings.