1. Academic Vocabulary

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Do you think studying academic vocabulary will be helpful?

6. This semester, we will focus on learning academic vocabulary

7. Academic Vocabulary
In each unit this semester, approximately 100 word families from the academic word list will appear.

8. Keeping 4 principles in mind will help you develop your vocabulary as much as possible this semester

10. Vocabulary Learning Strategies

11. In order to develop your vocabulary, you should keep 4 main principles in mind

12. 4 Main Principles Number 1
You should be active in developing your understanding of words and ways to learn them

13. Active Learning Strategies
Semantic Mapping:
Making a graphic representation of the relationship between words

14. Semantic Mapping erosion desertification deforestation climate change
global warming
erosion
extinction
of species
air pollution
water pollution

15. Active Learning Strategies
Definition Mapping:
Working with grammar, meaning,
and sample sentences

16. Active Learning Strategies
Grouping:
Recognizing the relatedness of a word
to other words

17. Grouping Words that Describe Large Scale huge enormous immense
massive
huge
enormous
immense
extensive
vast

18. You should personalize your vocabulary learning
4 Main Principles
Number 2
You should personalize your vocabulary learning

19. Personalized Learning Strategies
Choosing words:
Identify key concepts and the words required to understand these concepts

20. Personalized Learning Strategies
Choosing words:
Identify important terms you need to learn

21. Personalized Learning Strategies
Choosing words:
Identify meaningful similarities and differences among the concepts / words being studied

22. 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.

23. You should be immersed in words
4 Main Principles
Number 3
You should be immersed in words

24. and language-rich environment
Immersion in Words
Opportunities:
Put yourself in a word-
and language-rich environment

25. Become aware of words and how they are used in the input you receive
Immersion in Words
Opportunities:
Become aware of words and how they are used in the input you receive

26. Immersion in Words Opportunities: Try to use new / interesting words
in your speaking and writing

27. 4 Main Principles Number 4
You should use multiple sources of information to learn words through repeated exposures

28. Repeated Exposure Opportunities:
Watch television news / programs that are related to the topic of environment

29. Repeated Exposure Opportunities: Read newspaper / magazine articles
related to the topic on environment

30. Repeated Exposure Opportunities:
Discuss environment-related topics with friends, family, classmates, etc

31. 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

32. Keeping these 4 principles in mind will help you develop your vocabulary as much as possible this semester

34. Two important elements of vocabulary learning
Quality:
How well do you know each word?

35. To improve how much you know about each word
Quality
Goal:
To improve how much you know about each word

36. What does the word sound like?
Quality
Spoken Form:
What does the word sound like?
How is it pronounced?

37. What does the word look like?
Quality
Written Form:
What does the word look like?
How is it written?

38. Quality Meaning: What meaning does this form of the word have?
for example:
consider vs. considerably
individual vs. individualism

39. What things can the concept refer to?
Quality
Concepts:
What things can the concept refer to?
for example:
fertile soil
fertile mind

40. Quality Associations:
What other words does this word make you think of?
for example:
fundamentally - basically
vast - massive - huge - extensive

41. In what patterns does the word occur?
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

42. What words or type of words occur with this word?
Quality
Collocations:
What words or type of words occur with this word?
for example:
complex problem
complex issue
complex person
complex idea

43. 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

44. To increase the number of words you know
Quantity
Goal:
To increase the number of words you know

45. Quantity
Educated adult native speakers of English know approximately 20,000 word families

46. Quantity
College freshman ESL students know approximately 2, ,000 word families

47. 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

48. 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

49. 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

50. 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

51. 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