Developing a nature tourism word list for L2 learners in the tourism sector

Abstract This study develops the Nature Tourism Word List (NTWL) to support second-language (L2) learners in acquiring specialised vocabulary crucial for effective communication in the nature tourism sector. Recognising the significance of nature tourism for global economies, environmental awareness, and professional communication, the NTWL was designed to bridge the gap between academic preparation and real-world practice. The study employed a mixed approach, combining corpus-based and judgement-based methods. A Nature Tourism Corpus (NTC) of 3.4 million tokens was compiled from official national park websites across six regions, while a Second-NTC of 448,000 tokens was used for evaluation. Statistical measures — frequency, range, uniformity, and dispersion — were applied alongside lexical profiling, keyword analysis, semantic tagging, and dictionary consultation to ensure precision and contextual relevance. The final NTWL comprises 744 lemmas, classified into technical, semi-technical, and supportive categories. Coverage tests showed the NTWL accounted for 14.55% of the NTC and 13.48% of the Second-NTC, surpassing the 5–8% expected threshold for technical lists. These findings indicate its strong generalisability and pedagogical value. The NTWL thus provides a practical resource for learners and educators, enhancing vocabulary acquisition and promoting communicative competence in nature tourism.