ACADEMIC VOCABULARY FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH HS-111/104 By Maha Kamal Think! • What is Academic Vocabulary? • Why is important to learn Academic Vocabulary? • How can we develop our Academic Vocabulary effectively? What is Academic Vocabulary? Academic vocabulary is different from the words we use in our everyday conversation. It is formal, concise and commonly used in academic texts. Academic Vocabulary is of two types: General Academic Vocabulary Discipline Specific Vocabulary General academic vocabulary includes words which are commonly used across all disciplines, such as analyse, data, theory, estimation, explain and imply. Discipline specific vocabulary includes words which are particular to a certain discipline, such as Business, Engineering and Health. Vocabulary related to the field of Software engineering will have words, such as Algorithm, Reboot, Coding, etc. You need to develop both general academic and discipline specific vocabulary in order to excel in your academic writing. Strategies for Developing Academic Vocabulary • Reading academic texts in your discipline regularly is very important for developing your academic vocabulary. • Writing academic texts regularly also helps you remember and retain vocabulary you have learnt. • Learning vocabulary from vocabulary books is another useful strategy for developing vocabulary. Learn the following information about every new word: • Meanings • Example sentences/usage • Spelling • pronunciation • parts of speech • Collocation • Connotation • Denotations Collocation, Denotation & Connotation Collocation: In the English language, collocation refers to a natural combination of words that are closely affiliated with each other. Some examples are "pay attention", "fast food", "make an effort", and "powerful engine". Denotation: It is the literal meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas that the word suggests. It is the direct or dictionary meaning of a word. For example, the denotation for blue is the colour blue. If you say, The girl was blue. You mean the girl was literally blue in colour. Connotation: Connotation refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings, in addition to their literal meanings or denotations. Resolute means stubborn, but with a more positive connotation. Similarly, blue is a colour, but it is also a word used to describe a feeling of sadness, as in: She is feeling blue. Connotations can be positive or negative or sometimes neutral. Childlike: Positive, Childish: Negative Confident: Positive, Cockish: Negative The word “Raven’’ means a black-coloured bird in terms of denotative meaning, but it is often associated with loss or ill omen (connotation). Resources for Academic Vocabulary Development Resources for Academic Vocabulary Development 1. Vocabulary Books Cambridge Vocabulary in Use is a highly recommended series of vocabulary books that you can use for learning vocabulary. It includes the commonly used words at different proficiency levels, examples, exercises and answers of the exercises. 2. Academic Word List Academic Word List is (AWL) a list of 570 words which are most commonly used in all types of academic writing. The list is arranged in 10 Sub lists. Sub list 1 has most commonly used words, where as Sub list 10 has least commonly used words. Learn the meanings of AWL words, their word families, example sentences and use them regularly in your writing. 3. Academic Phrasebank Academic Phrasebank published by Morley (2014) is one of the highly useful resources for developing academic vocabulary. It contains phrases which are commonly used in research papers and research reports. You need to learn these expressions to use them in your own writing. 4. IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering • IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering is a significant resource to get a grip over the discipline related words and vocabulary to be learned. • The students need a wide variety of words to use in their academic write-ups related to their relevant discipline such as report writing, assignments, and for preparing presentations. • Such resources can be consulted to use diverse range of words. References Bailey, S. (2015). Academic writing: A handbook for international students (4th ed.). Routledge. Morley, J. (2014). Academic phrasebank. University of Manchester.
