An analysis of the lexical content of four recently published textbooks for college-level introductory German is presented. The study investigated the extent to which the materials prepare students for the intermediate level, as cited in the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL's) proficiency guidelines. The lexical items in the four books are compared with each other and to two independently developed vocabulary lists from European sources, with the analysis limited to lexical items relating to some of the topics mentioned in the ACTFL guidelines, broadly categorized as personal data (talking about daily routine, and about family residence), education (talking about school and university), and leisure time activities (talking about activities, hobbies, and sports). Results suggest that the vocabulary required to talk about the selected vocabulary areas is insufficiently represented in the four textbooks, and the textbooks' glossaries contain many vocabulary items not necessary for communication in everyday life. It is suggested that vocabulary is one of the criteria by which a language textbook should be evaluated for proficiency-oriented instruction. (MSE)