scholarly journals The Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) coverage in the Brazilian academic written English corpus

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Goulart
Keyword(s):  
Word List ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Word Lists ◽  
Brazilian Students ◽  
Vocabulary List

This paper is divided in two parts, in the first one we address the different definitions of academic vocabulary, the role of academic vocabulary in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching, and present some of the academic word lists compiled up to the present day. The second part of this paper is dedicated to one of the applications of these word lists: to determine the vocabulary profile of a corpus. Hence, the investigation conducted relies on the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) to determine the use of academic vocabulary in a corpus of Brazilian students. It also addresses the issue of the different coverage provided by the AVL and the Academic Word List (AWL). The results indicate that the AVL is more representative of academic vocabulary in the corpus used as a reference.

Word lists and the role of academic vocabulary use in high stakes speaking assessments

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-219
Author(s):  
George Fredrik Smith ◽  
Kristopher Kyle ◽  
Scott A. Crossley
Keyword(s):  
List Item ◽  
Word List ◽  
Spoken Word ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Weak Effect ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Word Use ◽  
Speaking Assessment

Abstract The current study explored the extent to which academic vocabulary lists could meet the lexical demands of academic speaking assessments. Indices of word use from lists of academic and general vocabulary were used to predict speaking scores on three TOEFL tasks. The results found weak associations between list-item use and response scores that varied by task. Independent response scores were associated with the use of specialized vocabulary from the first level of the Academic Spoken Word List. Integrated campus situation response scores were most strongly associated with the use of unique words from the Academic Word List. Integrated academic course response scores were associated with the use of more sophisticated general vocabulary. Although the findings provide some support for the use of academic vocabulary lists in speaking assessment preparation, the weak effect sizes point to the need to develop lists of academic vocabulary specific to academic speaking and assessment.

scholarly journals Teaching Second Language Vocabulary: the Role and Application of the AWL

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Ge Yan
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Word List ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Writing Assignments

This paper focuses on the role and application of AWL in science-related subjects, namely the issue of whether or not students in science-related majors is advantaged or disadvantaged in using the Academic Word List (AWL) in their academic writing assignments as the imbalance of word frequency in AWL. Participants (n=18) are obliged to answer the Questionnaire. Furthermore, if needed, a brief interview would be arranged on some uncertain questions. Results show that learning and acquiring academic vocabulary would benefit participants in research articles, while AWL is inadequate for students in science-related disciplines in their academic writing. We claim that students in science-related majors may be disadvantaged than other majors’ students in using Coxhead’s Academic Word List, and a wordlist screened out from science-related corpus perhaps more suitable for ESP students. Meanwhile, AWL, as a role of reference, would aid language learning or acquisition.

scholarly journals A COMPARISON OF THE ACADEMIC WORD LIST AND THE ACADEMIC VOCABULARY LIST: SHOULD THE AVL REPLACE THE AWL?

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Razieh Gholaminejad ◽  
Mohammad Reza Anani Sarab
Keyword(s):  
Word List ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Frequency Method ◽  
Minimum Frequency ◽  
Comprehensive List ◽  
Corpus Size ◽  
History Of ◽  
Made In ◽  
Vocabulary List

In this commentary, we begin with the discussion on a brief history of academic wordlists. Adopting a comparative perspective, then, the merits and demerits of the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) and its competing counterpart the Academic Vocabulary List (AVL) (Gardner & Davies, 2014) are presented. We also explore whether the AWL can still be considered as “the best list” (Nation, 2001, p. 12) for improving academic words, or whether its counterpart is reasonably “the most current, accurate, and comprehensive list” (Gardner & Davies, 2014, p. 325). The comparison was made in terms of twelve aspects: corpus size, types of corpus texts, sources of corpus texts, text balance, disciplines included, counting unit, wordlist items, method for excluding highfrequency words, minimum frequency, method for excluding technical words, sequence of list items and lexical coverage. The comparison reveals that the AVL is far from complete and cannot replace the AWL. The results of the comparison can have implications for practitioners and course developers.

scholarly journals A Critical Review of the Word Classification System

HOW ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Razieh Gholaminejad
Keyword(s):  
Critical Points ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Classification System ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Word Classification ◽  
General Service

In this reflective paper, we review the currently-used word classification system proposed by linguist Paul Nation (2013, 2015) and the position of the academic vocabulary in this system. Different lexical layers in this system are explained as well as the underlying assumptions. Then, taking a critical position, we raise a number of criticisms against three different aspects of Nation’s classification. The first criticism involves the fact that the system has sacrificed function for form in developing the lexical layers. The second focuses on the problem of equating ‘academic words’ with Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) and ‘high-frequency words’ with West’s (1953) General Service List (GSL). Finally, the system is criticized for the lack of an independent lexical layer for discipline-specific academic vocabulary by ignoring disciplinary variation at the level of academic words. The critical points raised in the paper can be useful for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) materials developers, teachers, test developers, and syllabus/curriculum designers.

scholarly journals Effects of semantic relations, repetition of words, and list length in word list recall of Alzheimer's patients

2008 ◽  
Vol 66 (2b) ◽  
pp. 312-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orlando F.A. Bueno ◽  
Paulo H.F. Bertolucci ◽  
Maria Gabriela M. Oliveira ◽  
Jacqueline Abrisqueta-Gomez
Keyword(s):  
Free Recall ◽  
List Length ◽  
Word List ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Facilitating Factors ◽  
Word Lists

INTRODUCTION: Semantic relations among words and repetition enhance free recall, but it is unknown if these facilitating factors are effective in dementia. METHOD: Alzheimer's patients (MILD-Alz, MOD-Alz) were compared to healthy elderly. Fifteen-word lists were read out to the subjects. In four sets of lists the words in intermediary input positions were semantically related or not, or the midlist words were repeated, or they were repeated and semantically related. RESULTS: The usual third peak of recall of semantically related words was not observed in MOD-Alz, repetition of words did not increase recall of the patients, and the combination of relatedness and repetition benefited only MID-Alz. In a second experiment, with related or unrelated midlist words, and list length shortened from 15 to 9 words, semantic facilitation was observed in mild and moderate Alzheimer´s patients, although diminished compared to controls. CONCLUSION: Progression of dementia turns facilitating factors of recall less effective.

scholarly journals Portuguese Vocabulary Profile: uma lista de vocabulário a aprendentes do PL2/PLE, baseada nos corpora de aprendentes e de livros de ensino

2017 ◽  
pp. 387-400
Author(s):  
Shintaro Torigoe
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Word List ◽  
Elementary Level ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
Word Classification ◽  
The Common ◽  
Pilot Version ◽  
Vocabulary List

This paper reports the second pilot study of the Portuguese Vocabulary Profile (PVP) project, a Portuguese vocabulary list for learners in Japan based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Inspired by the English Vocabulary Profile (Capel, 2010, 2012), the PVP takes a learner-centric approach. For this study, the author modified the first pilot version which was constructed solely from learner corpora (Torigoe, 2016a) by comparing it with a word list based on a corpus of Portuguese textbooks published in Japan. The result is a broadened vocabulary for both the elementary and intermediate levels. The major improvement is that some intuitively basic words, including numbers, months of the year, foods, and facilities, which had been previously categorized as intermediate or advanced level words or which were missing from the first version due to their low frequency were correctly categorized as the elementary level words. However, the norm of word classification remains somewhat arbitrary given that the small size of both the input (learner corpora) and the comparative data (textbook corpus) does not allow for the use of statistical methods with less frequent words.

scholarly journals Beyond frequency: evaluating the lexical demands of reading materials with open-access corpus tools

2020 ◽  
pp. 215-220
Author(s):  
Juliane Martini
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Intermediate Level ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Intensive English ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Proper Nouns ◽  
Reading Materials ◽  
Online Texts ◽  
Corpus Tools

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the appropriateness of open-access reading materials for an intensive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, and to provide teachers with a set of criteria to select online texts systematically and efficiently. The Corpus for Veterinarians (VetCorpus) was compiled and analyzed using Lextutor corpus tools. Taking into account students’ vocabulary size, background knowledge, word frequency, proper nouns, compound words, and cognates, the VetCorpus was considered useful and appropriate for intermediate level students, but too difficult for elementary level students. Further lexical analysis showed that the VetCorpus also provides learners with opportunities to encounter technical and academic vocabulary.

Markedness Universals and the Acquisition of Voicing Contrasts by Korean Speakers of English

1996 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy C. Major ◽  
Michael C. Faudree
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word List ◽  
Final Word ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
L1 Acquisition

This study of five native speakers of Korean investigates the role of universals in their acquisition of English obstruent voicing contrasts. The data were gathered from a passage and a word list containing voiced and voiceless obstruents in initial, medial, and final word positions. Results reflected principles of markedness universals of L1 acquisition and adult natural languages, suggesting that interlanguage systems behave according to universals of natural languages.

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