Briefkasten oder Brieftaube? Zur Auswahl der Lexik in amerikanischen Deutschlehrwerken fuer die Grundstufe. ('Mailbox' or 'Carrier Pigeon'? Selecting Vocabulary for American College-Level Elementary German Textbooks).

A comparison of four college-level elementary German textbooks reveals significant differences in the numbers of vocabulary entries in each textbook. Further comparison of three of the textbooks with the basic German vocabulary lists provided in "Kontaktschwelle Deutsch als Fremdsprache" and in "Das Zertificat Deutsch als Fremdsprache" reveal in all three categories of vocabulary comparison--(1) language learning, school, and literature; (2) employment and professions; and (3) current events and topics of general interest--that the three textbooks include many low frequency words and leave out many important high frequency words. Itemized vocabulary lists are included in the text. (DJD)