An Introduction to academic vocabulary

1. Academic Vocabulary

2. What is it?
Academic vocabulary can be hard to define
It can refer to:
1. General words that are considered academic e.g. “The aim of this report
is…”
2. Technical words that are only found in your subject, such as language in
laboratory reports
3. Words that are found in many different academic subjects or journals
In your writing, you are expected to use all three types

3. Where can you find it?
• In your subjects it is everywhere: books, journals, specific websites,
articles, presentations, lectures………..
• There are also websites that list academic vocabulary, and one good
example is The Academic Word List which lists the most common academic
word groups (see the link on this Canvas page)
• The more you read, the more vocabulary you will see (and hopefully learn)

4. How do you learn it?
Well there is no easy way to do this (sorry!), but remember:
Firstly, vocabulary is only learnt in the context, so you need to notice
particular words or phrases that are used in your subject
Secondly, if you are serious about learning new vocabulary then you need to
write any new words / phrases down
By doing this, you can build a record of new words
(and example sentences) that you can refer to
when you write

5. Practice
There are lots of examples of academic vocabulary, but this is a simple
introduction to it. Match the informal word with its academic equivalent:
Informal Academic
as we know a contentious issue
a hot topic it is generally agreed; it is widely accepted
good attain; receive
getting advantageous; preferable
large becoming; growing
more and more significant; important
bad ineffective, undesirable
get (this has many different meanings) an increasing number

6. Answers
Informal Academic
as we know it is generally agreed; it is widely accepted
a hot topic a contentious issue
good advantageous; preferable
getting becoming; growing
large significant; important
more and more an increasing number
bad ineffective, undesirable
get (this has many different meanings) attain; receive

7. Also, be clear…..
Remember, using academic vocabulary doesn’t mean you are there to impress
the reader by using complicated language, so you still need to be clear
For example, compare the two sentences:
a)“the company’s practice is contrary to policy and it should cease and desist
immediately”
b)“the company practice is contrary to its policy and so should be stopped
immediately”
Both are grammatically good, but sentence b is clearer

8. Extra Help
I could put lists of words in this presentation for you to remember, but this would
not be useful to you. Why?
Because, for vocabulary to be useful, it has to be:
- in a situation (context) that means something to you
-and to actively remember the word, you need to use it regularly
Look at the links on the Canvas page for further practice and vocabulary ideas