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.