A study of Taylor Swift’s pop songs for EFL learners: categorizing words based on the Oxford 3000 and 5000 word lists and CEFR levels

This study aims to evaluate the extent to which Taylor Swift’s song lyrics incorporate vocabulary from the Oxford 3000 and 5000 word lists and to categorize these words based on CEFR levels. The goal is to narrow down the vast selection of songs available to EFL learners, focusing on the most essential vocabulary to enhance their learning effectively and effortlessly. The Taylor Swift Pop Song Corpus (TPC) was compiled using the AntConc 4.2.4 program. The analysis involved three steps: data preparation, lexical profiling, and word categorization. The results revealed that 18.08% of the words in the songs appeared in the Oxford 3000 word list, while 1.99% were found in the Oxford 5000 word list. The highest frequency CEFR level in the songs was A1, with a lexical coverage of 41.44%. In summary, Taylor Swift’s songs can serve as valuable materials for learning or teaching essential vocabulary for general purposes and beginners.