Learning Outcomes
This package aims to
- introduce common word lists: the General Service List (GSL) and the Academic Word List (AWL)
- introduce the concept of off-list words
- introduce some vocabulary learning strategies
By the end of the package you should be able to
- understand the general concept of word frequency and the challenges of learning less frequent words
- use 1-2 vocabulary learning strategies
introduction
Academic Word List
This is a wordle, or word cloud, of a news article about brain research on love's effect on pain*. In this wordle, you probably know the most frequent words like love, people, pain, may, and brain. These common words appear in word lists representing the 2,000 most common English words. You probably know the word researchers because you are a university student.
researchers |
love |
people |
pain |
may |
brain |
Do you know other words in the word cloud? Do you know depressed, functions, intense, involved, perception, response, reverse, similar, and whereas? These words are all in the Academic Word List, or AWL.
*Love can ease pain, say brain researchers. (2010, October 14). BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Word Lists
Comparison to some of the other words lists with short definitions/examples
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Practice
Drag-and-drop Activity 1
Can you guess the frequency of the following words? Drag the words below into the correct boxes.
Drag-and-drop Activity 2
Can you guess the frequency of the following words? Drag the words below into the correct boxes.
Let's compare three versions of the same paragraph: Version 1 has no AWL words and no off-list words. Version 2 has AWL words. Can you drag and drop the AWL words into the right sentence?
As you read, think about which version is easier to understand.
Which version was easier? Did you know all, or most, of the words in both versions? For many students, Version 1 (on the left) will be less challenging because all of the words are from the first 2,000 words of English. For many students, Version 2 (on the right) will be a little more challenging because 8% of the words are from the Academic Word List.
Finally, look at Version 3 with AWL words and off-list words (see the underlined words). Version 3 is quite similar to the original article. Is it difficult to understand? Do you have a plan, or strategies, for learning new vocabulary?
Version 3
The scientists recruited a dozen students who were all in the first nine months of a relationship, defined as "the first phase of intense love". The students were asked to bring in a picture of the object of their affection and photographs of what they deemed an equally attractive acquaintance. While their brains were scanned, they were shown these pictures, while a computer controlled heat pad placed in the palm of their hand was set up to cause them mild pain. The scientists found that viewing the picture of their beloved reduced students' perceptions of pain much more than looking at the image of the acquaintance. Dr Jarred Younger, one of the researchers, said that the "love-induced analgesia" appeared to involve more primitive functions of the brain, working in a similar way to opioid painkillers.
*Paragraphs were adapted from
Love can ease pain, say brain researchers. (2010, October 14). BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Vocabulary Learning Strategies
A list of strategies for learning words
- Learning prefixes and suffixes
Prefixes (like be-, com-, dis-, inter-, pre-, re-, under-, and un-) come before the base part of the word and add meaning. For instance, change is a base word. If we add the prefix un- to the base change, we get unchange, or to remain the same. If we add the prefix inter- to the base change we get interchange, or a crossing point or substitution.
Suffixes (like –tion, -ism, -ity, -ness, -ate, -(i)ous, and -ly) come after the base part of the word, add meaning, and often change the part of speech of the base word. For instance, polite is an adjective. If we add the suffix –ness, we get the noun politeness. If we add the suffix –ly, we get the adverb politely.
- Learning parts of speech
Words on the AWL list have derivations (parts of speech).nouns - consultation, consultants
Understanding parts of speech can help you learn new words. Let's say you come across a new word – like ambiguous - in the sentence "Some authors choose to conceal their gender with an ambiguous pen name." From the suffix –ous, I can guess that ambiguous is an adjective. From the context, I can guess that ambiguous means unclear, or "not clearly male or female" in this sentence.
verbs – consult, consulted
adjectives – consultative, consulting
adverbs - consultatively
- Recycling
Some language learning experts say you need to see, hear, or use a new word from 5-15 times to remember it. This repetition is called recycling. To do your own vocabulary recycling, try reading a few articles on the same subject to see related words repeated several times. If you collect words in a notebook, try to use them in spoken or written sentences.
- Making word lists
Write down new words, definitions, and sentences in a notebook. Use some of the new smartphone apps to create electronic word lists, especially apps that can be set to recycle words.
- Reading more!
One of the best activities that you can do for your vocabulary is read more – for pleasure or for study. Change the difficulty of the readings so that sometimes you are reading at or below your level, and then sometimes choose shorter readings that are slightly above your level. Just like an athlete who must practice and train regularly to develop skills, you should regularly read more to develop your vocabulary.
Prefixes and Suffixes
Using prefixes and suffixes as clues, can you match vocabulary with their definitions? The first word "inevitable" has been done for you.
For the following words from the AWL, you will see the word in various derivations (i.e., parts of speech like noun, verb, adjective, and adverb). Match the correct part of speech to the blank.
1. emerged (verb), emergence (noun), emerging (adjective or verb)
2. varies (verb), variants (plural noun)
3. economic (adjective), economically (adverb)
4. appropriate (adjective), appropriately (adverb), inappropriate (adjective), inappropriately (adverb)
Using recycling
As mentioned previously, some language learning experts say you need to see, hear, or use a new word from 5-15 times to remember it (i.e., recycling). The vocabulary exercises in this lesson were all taken from seven BBC articles about a problem with antibiotic medicines losing their effectiveness to prevent diseases. In some articles the seriousness of this problem was referred to as an "antibiotic 'apocalypse,'" or a disaster so serious that it could be the end of the world. In these articles, we can see many forms for words related to antibiotics, a medicine that kills bacteria.
| antibiotic | infection | |
| antibiotics | infections | organism |
| infectious | organisms | |
| bacteria | superbugs | |
| bacterial | antimicrobial | |
| bacteriophage | microbes | apocalypse |
| bacterium | microbiologist | apocalyptic |
| enterobacteriaceae | microbology |
Here's another way to picture how vocabulary is recycled and learned through repetition. Look at this word cloud of all of the AWL vocabulary and all of the off-list vocabulary from the seven articles about the "antibiotic 'apocalypse.'" You can see various infections/diseases in the articles (e.g., cancer, bugs, superbugs, gonorrhoea, phage, tuberculosis, E. coli, NDM, MRSA). By reading several articles on similar topics, you can expand your vocabulary through related words. Another example is the words antimicrobial, microbes, microbiologist, and microbiology.
From everything you've read and learned about vocabulary in this lesson, can you match the words antimicrobial, microbes, microbiologist, and microbiology to their definitions?
As you learn new words, make your own words lists and practice using the words in your own sentences.
*Exercises adapted from
Antibiotics search to focus on sea bed. (2013, February 15). BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Gallagher, J. (2013, January 24). Antibiotic 'apocalypse' warning. BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Gallagher, J. (2011, April 8). The drugs won't work – so what will? BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Gallagher, J. (2013, March 11). Analysis: Antibiotic apocalypse. BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Roberts, M. (2011, April 7). Europe losing 'superbugs' battle. BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Roberts, M. (2013, March 11). Q&A: Antibiotic resistance. BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
Walsh, F. (2013, January 24). Antibiotics resistance 'as big a risk as terrorism' - medical chief. BBC.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk
More online tools & resources
Practice with AWL exercises at
http://www.englishvocabularyexercises.com/AWL/
Take an online test to learn your vocabulary level (for both the first 2,000 words and AWL) at
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/r21270/levels/