Academic Vocabulary
Date 26.11.2016 Size 11.33 Kb. #2412
Academic Vocabulary If your goal is to read academic writing (college textbooks, etc) and write academic papers (essays, etc), you can save yourself a lot of time and effort by focusing on academic vocabulary What is Academic Vocabulary? Academic Vocabulary is a specialized vocabulary of 570 word families that commonly appear in all academic textbooks, regardless of major field of study Academic Vocabulary Learning In general vocabulary learning, to go from 80% understanding to 86% understanding would require you to learn 2,000 more word families In academic vocabulary learning, to go from 80% understanding to 86% understanding would require you to learn 570 more word families Do you think studying academic vocabulary will be helpful? This semester, we will focus on learning academic vocabulary Academic Vocabulary In each unit this semester, approximately 100 word families from the academic word list will appear. Keeping 4 principles in mind will help you develop your vocabulary as much as possible this semester Vocabulary Learning Strategies In order to develop your vocabulary, you should keep 4 main principles in mind Active Learning Strategies Semantic Mapping: Making a graphic representation of the relationship between words Semantic Mapping Active Learning Strategies Definition Mapping: Working with grammar, meaning, and sample sentences Active Learning Strategies Grouping: Recognizing the relatedness of a word to other words Grouping Words that Describe Large Scale 4 Main Principles Number 2 You should personalize your vocabulary learning Personalized Learning Strategies Choosing words: Identify key concepts and the words required to understand these concepts Personalized Learning Strategies Choosing words: Identify important terms you need to learn Personalized Learning Strategies Choosing words: Identify meaningful similarities and differences among the concepts / words being studied Personalizing words Node Acquisition and Integration Technique (NAIT): Students identify key concepts or important terms they need to learn within a text. Students construct a semantic network around each of the selected key concepts. Students think of examples or potential applications of the key concepts and record these examples on the definition worksheet. Students identify meaningful similarities and differences among the different concepts being studied. 4 Main Principles Number 3 You should be immersed in words Immersion in Words Immersion in Words Opportunities: Become aware of words and how they are used in the input you receive Immersion in Words Opportunities: Try to use new / interesting words in your speaking and writing 4 Main Principles Opportunities: Watch television news / programs that are related to the topic of environment Repeated Exposure Opportunities: Read newspaper / magazine articles related to the topic on environment Repeated Exposure Opportunities: Discuss environment-related topics with friends, family, classmates, etc Summary 4 Principles of Vocabulary Learning You should be active in developing your understanding of words and ways to learn them You should personalize your word learning You should be immersed in words You should use multiple sources of information to learn words through repeated exposures Keeping these 4 principles in mind will help you develop your vocabulary as much as possible this semester Two important elements of vocabulary learning Quality: How well do you know each word? Quality Goal : To improve how much you know about each word Quality Spoken Form: What does the word sound like? How is it pronounced? Quality Written Form: What does the word look like? How is it written? Quality Meaning: What meaning does this form of the word have? for example: consider vs. considerably individual vs. individualism Quality Concepts: What things can the concept refer to? for example: fertile soil fertile mind Quality Associations: What other words does this word make you think of? for example: fundamentally - basically vast - massive - huge - extensive Quality Grammatical Patterns: In what patterns does the word occur? transitive vs. intransitive verbs two-word verbs: opt out of prepositions: interest in , responsible for relative clauses: suggest that, conclude that Quality Collocations: What words or type of words occur with this word? for example: complex problem complex issue complex person complex idea Quality Restrictions on use (register differences): Where, when, and how often would you expect to meet this word? for example: ethos, kin, institutionalize = formal academic words Quantity Goal : To increase the number of words you know Quantity Educated adult native speakers of English know approximately 20,000 word families Quantity College freshman ESL students know approximately 2,000 - 3,000 word families Quantity If you know the most frequent 1,000 words of English, you should be able to understand 72% of the words on the page of a book, newspaper , or magazine Quantity If you know the most frequent 2,000 words of English, you should be able to understand 80% of the words on the page of a book, newspaper, or magazine Quantity If you know the most frequent 3,000 words of English, you should be able to understand 84% of the words on the page of a book, newspaper, or magazine Quantity If you know the most frequent 4,000 words of English, you should be able to understand 86% of the words on the page of a book, newspaper, or magazine Quantity In order to understand 95% of the words on a page of a book, newspaper, or magazine, you need to know approximately 12,500 words In order to understand 99% of the words on a page of a book, newspaper, or magazine, you need to know approximately 44,000 words Share with your friends:
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