EuitAcademicWordList-En-En-J

EuitAcademicWordList

AnIntroductiontotheEuitAcademicWordList

WhatistheEuitAcademicWordList?

TheEuitAcademicWordList(EAWL)isalistof570wordfamiliesthatarecommonlyfoundinacademictexts.Thislistwasselectedbyexaminingalargecorpus(orcollection)ofwrittenacademictextsandselectingthewordsthatoccurred:

1.

Intextsfromallfouracademicfacultysections:Arts,Commerce,LawandScience.

Over100timesinthecorpusoverall.

Atleast10timesineachacademicfacultysection.

Outsidethe2000mostfrequentwordsonMichaelWest’sGeneralServiceList(GSL).TheGSLincludeseverydaywordssuchasI,houseanddo.

2.

3.

4.

Theseprinciplesensuredthatonlywordsthatoccurredreasonablyfrequentlyinavarietyofstudyareaswereselected.

TheEAWLtargetsvocabularythatoccursmostofteninwrittenacademictexts.Thesewordsalsooccurinnewspapersbutnotasoftenastheydointextbooks.TheEAWLwordsappearevenlessinfiction.Ifyourfocusislearningacademicvocabulary,youneedtomakesureyoureadacademictextbookssothatyouencounterthesewordsincontext.

HowistheEAWLorganized?

TheEAWLisorganizedintoWordFamilies.Wordfamiliesaremadeupofthe‘parentword’and‘familymembers’.Takeforexamplethewordmaximise.Itsfamilymembersincludeinflectionsoftheverbsuchasmaximised,maximisesandmaximisingaswellasthenounmaximum.ThewordfamilyalsoincludestheBritishspellingofthenounmaximisation,aswellasmaximization,theUSspelling.

Ifyoulearntheverbmaximise,youwillbeabletorecogniseotherfamilymemberssuchasmaximisedwhenyouencountertheminyourreading.Thesewordsarecloselyrelatedandthemeaningislikelytobethesameorsimilar.Whenyouarelookingforwordsinthisdictionary,thinkaboutotherwordfamilymemberstoo.

Finally,therearesomeacademicwordsthatdonothaveawordfamily.Thesewordsoccurontheirownanddonothaveanyinflections.

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EuitAcademicWordList-En-En-J

Examplesincludenonetheless,so-calledandbehalf.

WhyistheEAWLimportant?

TheEAWLisintendedasareferenceforstudentswhoarestudyingorpreparingtostudyatatertiarylevelinEnglish.Asauniversitylecturer,Iwasawareofthedifficultiesthatstudentshadinmasteringthevocabularynecessaryforwrittenassignments.TheEAWLdoesnotinclude‘content’vocabularyforparticularsubjectswhichstudentsobviouslyneedtolearnaswell.TheEAWLfocusesinsteadonthenon-subject-specificvocabularythatstudentsofanydisciplinewillneed

to

master

in

order

to

produce coherently-structured written

assignments.

TheEAWLcoversupto10%ofthevocabularycoveredinwrittenacademictexts.Thismeansthat,onaverage,onewordin10inanacademictextbookisintheEAWL.Lookatthefollowingextractfromanacademictext:

EUROPEANENVIRONMENTALPOLICY

Environmentalissuesaretrulyglobal.Manyoftheproblems,likethereleasingofCFCsintotheatmosphere,haveglobaleffectsandrequireglobalaction.Someproblemslinktotheexploitationofglobal

commons–thesuchasoceanproblems,such

resourcessharedbytheinternationalcommunitybedsandtheatmosphere.Sometimessmalllocalaspoisonousgasesleakingfromlandfillsandwater

pollution,aremultipliedsomanytimesinanylocalcontextsthattheybecomemajorworldhazards.Theenvironmentisaglobalconcernrequiringglobalpolicies.

ThehighlightedwordsareallontheEAWL.ThissampleillustratesclearlythattheEAWLcanhelpwithdecisionsaboutwhichwordsareimportantforyoutolearnifyouarestudyinginanEnglish-speakingcountry.

HowcantheEAWLhelpmewithmyacademic

studies?

KnowledgeofacademicvocabularyisvitalforstudentsstudyingatanEnglish-speakinguniversity,particularlyforreadingandwriting.IfyoucompareestimatesofhowmanywordsanativeEnglishspeakermightknowbytheageof18(approximately18,000to20,000words)andhowmanyalearnerwhohashadtwoorthreehoursofschoolinginEnglish

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overseveralyears(roughly2000to3000wordsdependingonthelanguagebackgroundofthestudent),thisgapisenormous.Inordertoreadandwritesuccessfullyyouneedtobeabletorecognizeasmanywordsaspossibleinyourtextbooksanduseasmanyaspossibleinyouressays.Thebiggeryourvocabulary,themoreyouwillbeabletocopewiththehighreadingandwritingdemandsofyourstudies.

Academicwritingtendstobequiteformalinstyle.Thevocabularyitemsthatyouuseinyourwritingcanaffectthelevelofformality.Writersneedtoknowwhetherawordcanbeusedinaparticularsituation.Takeforexampleconsequent.Thisismarkedasformal.YouwouldprobablynotchoosetousethiswordwhenspeakingwithfriendsbutyoushoulduseitinwrittenEnglishtotakeyourlanguagetoahigherlevelofformality.TheEAWLwillhelpyoutofocusonissuesofformality.Lookoutfortheformallabelinthisdictionary.

RememberthattheEAWLcoversapproximately10%ofallvocabularyinapieceofacademicwriting.Youshouldaimtohaveroughlythesamepercentageinyourownacademicwritingtoo.

WhenlookingupwordsfromtheEAWLinthisdictionaryyoushouldalsofocusontheboldphrasesthatarehighlighted.Theseshowyouthekeygrammaticalpatternsandcollocationsforthatword.Collocationsarewordsthatcommonlyoccurtogetherorneareachotherinatext,forexample‘effecton’.Collocationsandphrasesareimportantbecausetheyhelpwithfluencyinwritingandindicatethatyouareworkingatahigherlevelwithacademicvocabularythanjustusingawordfromyourownlanguageanditstranslation.Thecollocationsinthefollowingtexthavebeenhighlightedinblue.

DECLININGBIODIVERSITY

Whatevertheeffectsonthisplanet’sclimate,rain-forestclearancehasanotherundeniableimpact.Thedisappearanceofrainforestsisamajorfactorerodingtheearth’sbiodiversity,or,moresimplycausingmanythousandsofspeciesofplantandanimallifetodisappearforever.Whilerainforestsaccountforjustsevenpercentoftheearth’ssurface,theyarehometoalmosthalfofthisplanet’slivingspecies.Estimatesofthetotalnumberofspeciesofanimalsandplantsrangefrom1.5milliontoashighas30million.Researchers,infact,haveidentifiedmorethan1,000speciesofantsalone(Wilson,1991).

WhatstrategiescanIusetohelplearntheEAWL

words?

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Rememberthatbuildingyourvocabularytakestime.Youarenotlikelytolearneverythingyouneedtoknowaboutawordtheveryfirsttimeyouseeit.Anddon’texpecttoremembereverythingaboutawordafterlookingitupinadictionaryonce.Trysomeoftheseideastohelpyouwithvocabularybuilding:

Makethemostoftheinformationgiveninthisdictionarytobuildupyourknowledgeofaword.Lookattheboldphraseshighlightedintheentry.Theseshowimportantgrammaticalpatternsandcollocations.Learntheseratherthanthewordinisolation.

Evenifyouthinkyoualready‘know’aword,lookitupinthedictionarytoseeifthereisanyadditionalinformationthatyoudon’tknow.

Researchhasshownthatrepetitionhelpspeopletorememberthings.Makesureyoubuildrepetitionintoyourlearning.Youcoulddothisthroughusingwordcardstotestyourselforbykeepingavocabularynotebook.

Studyingwords‘actively’willhelpyourlearning.Peopledolearnwordsthroughreadingbutthechancesofrememberingvocabularyishigherwhenyoufocusonthewordsandmakeaconsciousefforttolearnthem.

Lookoutforcommoncollocations,phrasesandgrammaticalpatternsofwordswhenyouarereadingacademictexts.

WorkwiththeEAWLalongsideyouwhenyouarewriting.Trytousewordsfromthelistthatarerelevanttoyourwriting.

HowistheEAWLshowninthisdictionary?

ThewordsontheEAWLaremarkedwithACinthisdictionary.

TheEAWLdoesnotincludethe2000mostfrequentwordsusedingeneraleverydayEnglish.Inthisdictionary,however,the3000mostfrequentwordsinwrittenEnglisharealsomarkedwithW1W2andW3andthe3000mostfrequentwordsinspokenEnglisharemarkedwithS1S2andS3.Insomecases,theseoverlapwiththeEAWL.Acknowledgement:ExtractsonthesubjectofEuropeanenvironmentalpolicyanddecliningbiodiversityarereproducedwithpermissionfromSociology:AGlobalIntroduction,thirdedition,byJohnJ.MacionisandKenPlummer,PearsonEducationLimited2005.

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J

journaln

jour?nal

/?d???nl$-??r-/noun[countable]

aseriousmagazineproducedforprofessionalpeopleorthosewithaparticularinterest:

theBritishMedicalJournal

awrittenrecordthatyoumakeofthethingsthathappentoyoueachdaySYNdiary:

Hedecidedtokeepajournal.

diaryabookinwhichyouwritedownthethingsthathappentoyoueachday,andyourprivatethoughts:IdecidedtokeepadiaryofourtriptoToronto.|Youshouldn’treadanyone’sprivatediary.|OnFebruary3rd,hewrotethelastentryinhisdiary.

journaladiary,especiallyonewrittenbyafamousorimportantperson:Inthe1837journal,DarwingivesanaccountofhisvoyagetoSouthAmerica.|Herbookdrawsonletters,diaries,journalsandhistoricalsources.

memoirsawrittenrecordoftheimportanteventsandpeopleinyourlifewhichyouwriteinordertopublish–especiallyonethatiswrittenbyafamousorimportantpersonsuchasapoliticianoramilitaryleader:Alotofpoliticiansthinkaboutwritingtheirmemoirs.

|Thebookwastitled‘TheMemoirsofaPresident’.

blogadiarythatsomeoneputsonawebsite,whichisarecordoftheiractivities,experiences,andopinions,withthelatestinformationalwaysatthetop.Onsomeblogs,readerscanleavecomments:Itrytokeeparegularonlineblog.|IcameacrossagreatpostonablogIreadrecently.

log/logbookanofficialrecordofevents,especiallyonajourneyin

EuitAcademicWordList-En-En-J

ashiporplane:theship’slog|Thecaptainhadmadeafewnotesinthelogbook.

justifiableadj

jus?ti?fi?a?ble

/?d??st?fa??b?l,?d??st?fa??b?l/adjective

actions,reactions,decisionsetcthatarejustifiableareacceptablebecausetheyaredoneforgoodreasons:justifiableanger

economically/commerciallyjustifiable

Aretheseexperimentsmorallyjustifiable?

—justifiablyadverb

justificationn

jus?ti?fi?ca?tion

/?d??st?f??ke???n,?d??st?f??ke???n/noun

[uncountableandcountable]

agoodandacceptablereasonfordoingsomething

justificationfor(doing)something

Thereisnojustificationforholdingherinjail.

Hoggartfelt,withsomejustification,thathiscolleagueshadlethimdown.

injustification(ofsomebody/something)inordertoexplainwhyanideaoractionisright:

Hemadeaspeechinjustificationofhisactions.

reasonwhysomethinghappens,orwhysomeonedoessomething:Whatwasthereasonforthedelay?|Idon’tknowthereasonwhyhelefthislastjob.

explanationasetofreasonsthathelpsyoutounderstandwhysomethinghappens,especiallywhenitseemsdifficulttounderstand:Therearevariouspossibleexplanationsforclimatechange.|Isthereanyexplanationforhisbehavior?

motiveareasonthatmakessomeonedecidetodosomething–oftenusedaboutcrimes:Policesaythatthereisnoobviousmotivefortheattack.

justificationagoodreasonfordoingsomethingthatseemswrong:Thereisneveranyjustificationfortortureorabuse.|TheytrytousethesituationintheMiddleEastasajustificationforkillinginnocentcivilians.|There’snojustificationforthistypeofbehaviour.groundsareasonthatmakesitrightorfairtodosomething,especiallyaccordingtolegal,official,ormoralrules:Thecourtwilldecideifshehasgroundsfordivorce.|Theyclaimthewarisjustified

EuitAcademicWordList-En-En-J

onmoralgrounds(=becauseofmoralreasons).

basisthemainideasorreasonsonwhichsomethingisbased:Thedoctormakeshisdecisionspurelyonthebasisofclinicalobservation.|Whatdoyouthinkisthebasisforthisadvice?

rationale/?r????nɑ?l$-?n?l/formalasetofreasonsthatareusedto

explainwhysomeonedoessomethinginaparticularway:therationalebehindthegovernment’seconomicreforms|Thischapterexplainsthenatureofyearlyplans,andprovidesarationalefortheiruse.

justifiedadj

jus?ti?fied

/?d??st?fa?d,?d??st?fa?d/adjective

havinganacceptableexplanationorreason:

IntheChiefConstable’sview,theuseofforcewasfullyjustified.

justifiedindoingsomething

Underthecircumstances,theprincipalwasjustifiedinexpellingthisstudent.

right/leftjustifiedtechnicalusedtodescribeapagewherethewordsformastraightedgeontherightorleftsideofthepage

justifyvS2,W3

jus?ti?fy

3W3AC/?d??st?fa?,?d??st?fa?/verb(pasttenseand

pastparticiplejustified,presentparticiplejustifying,thirdpersonsingular

justifies)[transitive]

togiveanacceptableexplanationforsomethingthatotherpeoplethinkisunreasonable:

MinistersmustappearbeforeParliamentandjustifytheiractions.

justifydoingsomething

Howcanwejustifyspendingsomuchmoneyonarms?

justifyyourself(=provethatwhatyouaredoingisreasonable)

Idon’thavetojustifymyselftoyouoranyoneelse.

tobeagoodandacceptablereasonforsomething:

Nothingjustifiesmurderinganotherhumanbeing.

technicaltoarrangelinesofwordsonapageorcomputerscreensothattheyformastraightedgeonboththerightandleftsides

onmoralgrounds(=becauseofmoralreasons).

basisthemainideasorreasonsonwhichsomethingisbased:Thedoctormakeshisdecisionspurelyon