Vocabulary
Expanding your vocabulary
Which words should I learn?
The University Word List and the Academic Word List are compilations of commonly used words within an academic context. These are probably useful words to learn.
Learn one word, learn many word forms
For each word you learn there are often a number of other frequently used forms to learn as well. For example the word 'analysis' from the Academic Word List has a number of other forms which are useful to know:
| Other word forms of 'analysis' | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| analyse | analysed | analyser | analyses | analysing |
| analysis | analyst | analytic | analytical | analytically |
When learning these words you should also think about how they are pronounced. You need to recognise them when you hear them spoken and you need to be able to pronounce them correctly. The part of the word or syllable which is stressed might change. For example:
- analyse
- analysis
The letters in bold are the stressed syllable.
Learn words in context
When you discover a new word or term, take note of how it is used in the context of a sentence or phrase. Often a word commonly 'co-locates' (appears next to) other words.
Eg. "The Student Liaison Officer will take responsibility for checking the new students' accommodation details".
TAKE + responsibility + for + VERB-ing
Alternative ways of expressing the same idea are possible but may use different words.
Eg. "The Student Liaison Officer is responsible for checking the new students' accommodation details".
BE + responsible + for + VERB-ing
Concordance programs
These computer programs can show you how a word is used. These programs search through a great number of texts for a particular word. They then display that word and the other words around it - ie. the parts of the sentence it appear in. This can help you develop your understanding of the exact meaning of that word and which other words it often appears next to.
For example a concordance of the word 'construct' from Collins Wordbanks Online English corpus came up with 40 concordances. Eight of them are shown here:
- provided materials to construct a village drinking well in
- pressure groups. It helps construct a sense of community and
- the information needed to construct a past life has been identified
- sources through which to construct a history and analysis
- the theory of supersymmetry, a construct which has evolved to explain how
- therefore able to construct a `social self" we feel happy
- Project Greek Island was to construct a top secret bunker under the
- The firm is seeking to construct a semi-conductor plant in Europe.
Links to concordancing sites
Dictionaries
Make sure you have a large, good quality dictionary and that you are familiar and comfortable using it.
Print dictionaries
- Collins Cobuild
- Oxford Learner's Dictionary
Online dictionaries
Your own glossary/word list
Keep an exercise book and write down new words which you find in your reading. Choose words which you encounter frequently. Include in your glossary the word in a sample sentence as well as some notes about how to pronounce the word.
Alternatively you might like to write words on flashcards with a translation of the word or an example of its use in a sentence on the back of the card. These cards can be used to help you learn or revise words commonly used in your discipline/area of study. Keeping the cards in a convenient place so you can look at them frequently is a good idea.
Learning words in a context is another good strategy. Rather than learning lists of words organised into categories, you can take the words from a reading that you have to do for a subject. By identifying several words in that context, it should be easier for you to remember them.
(Acknowledgement of the last two ideas goes to Paul Nation of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand).
Academic word lists
Lists of frequently used words are available.
- Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies - Academic Word List
- Xue & Nation's (1984) A university word list reproduced on J. Bauman's website. This list contains all those in the Academic Word List and some more.