Breaking down the AWL selecting and grading academic vocabulary

1. Breaking down the AWLselecting and grading academic vocabulary By Julie Moore

2. Choosing academic vocabulary • Selecting vocabulary Academic Word List (AWL) Non-AWL vocabulary • Grading vocabulary by level Splitting into 3 levels

3. The Academic Word List (AWL) • Developed by AverilCoxhead (2000) • Based on corpus of academic texts • Excludes top 2000 common words • Excludes subject-specific words • 570 headwords • Word families > over 5000 individual items

4. Non-AWL vocabulary • Top end of the 2000 most common words • Less common senses of the top 2000 e.g. table • IELTS topic vocabulary (past paper topics)  data commentary task • Key academic concepts: cause & effect, time & sequence • Syllabus vocabulary e.g. Biology: bacteria, cell, nerve, virus

5. Grading by level • Level 1: Starter IELTS 4.0-5.5 • Level 2: Improver IELTS 5.5-6.5 • Level 3: Advanced IELTS 7.0+

6. Grading by frequency • AWL sublists Frequency within academic corpus 1-10 (1 = most frequent) • Collins COBUILD frequency banding Frequency in General English  (5) = most frequent [-] (0) = least frequent

7. Grading: easy cases

8. Issues & anomalies:

9. Entry for level 1 economy(economies) nounThe economy of a country or region is the system by which money, industry, and trade are organized. ❍ Zimbabwe boasts Africa’s most industrialised economy. ❍ The Japanese economy grew at an annual rate of more than 10 per cent. ❍ the region’s booming service economy ▶ collocations: the economy of somewhere a modern/industrial/service/market economy a booming/strong/weak economy the global/world/local/domestic economy the American/Canadian/Japanese/British economy stimulate/revive/boost the economy the economy grows/recovers/shrinks/slows down economic adjectiveEconomic means concerned with the organization of the money, industry, and trade of a country, region, or society. ❍ Poland’s radical economic reforms ❍ The pace of economic growth is picking up. ❍ the current economic crisis ➔ see note at financial

10. Entry for level 2 economy(economies) noun An economy is the system according to which the money, industry, and trade of a country or region are organized. ❍ Zimbabwe boasts Africa’s most industrialized economy. ❍ the rate at which the U.S. economy grows ▶ collocations: the local/global/national/rural/industrial economy a booming/strong/sluggish/weak economy an economy grows/shrinks economic adjective Economic means concerned with the organization of the money, industry, and trade of a country, region, or society. ❍ Poland’s radical economic reforms ❍ The pace of economic growth is picking up. ▶ collocations: economic growth/recovery/development economic reform/policy/activity/aid an economic downturn/crisis/slowdown the economic situation/impact an economic adviser ▶ synonyms: financial, monetary economical adjective Something that is economical does not require a lot of money to operate. For example a car that only uses a small amount of petrol is economical. ❍ the most economical method of extracting essential oils from plant materials ▶ collocation: an economical method/solution/alternative/option ▶ phrase: efficient and economical ▶ synonyms: cost-effective, inexpensive ▶ antonyms: uneconomical, expensive, wasteful usage: economic or economical? Be careful not to confuse these two adjectives. Economic describes something related to the economy. ❍ the government’s economic policies Something that is economical is cost-effective. ❍ the most effective and economical use of resources economically adverb ❍ an economically depressed area ❍ Small English orchards can hardly compete economically with larger French ones. ▶ collocations: prosper/benefit/grow/survive economically suffer/struggle/develop economically economically viable/feasible/sustainable economically dependent/disadvantaged/depressed/inefficient economics 1 uncountable noun Economics is the study of the way in which money, industry, and trade are organized in a society. ❍ He gained a first class Honours degree in economics. ❍ having previously studied economics and fine art ▶ collocation: an economics professor/degree/department ▶ phrase: economics and politics 2 uncountable noun The economics of a society or industry is the system of organizing money and trade in it. ❍ a radical free-market economics policy ❍ [+ of] the economics of the third world ▶ collocations: the economics of somewhere/something the economics of industry/business Keynesian/classical/experimental/free-market economics development/market economics an economics correspondent/editor/policy ▶ synonym: finance economist(economists) noun An economist is a person who studies, teaches, or writes about economics. ❍ the chief economist of the World Bank ❍ few economists expect to see a rise this year ▶ collocations: a leading/chief/senior economist market/health economists economists say/believe/expect/predict/forecast/warn

11. Issues & anomalies • General – academic frequencies colleague – AWL sublist 10 team – AWL sublist 9 • Splitting senses conduct a. carry out level 2 b. electricity level 3 • Semantic sets advantage (/ 4), disadvantage (- / 2)

12. The final breakdown *Total of 622 AWL entries across all three books: includes all 570 AWL headwords + 52 repeated headwords (e.g. economy appears in 1 &2)

13. COBUILD Key Words for IELTS Collins ELT: www.collinselt.com Julie Moore: www.juleswords.co.uk