IntroductiontotheAWLTASKS
VocabularyDevelopment–AcademicWordList
Toequipstudentswithsomeusefulvocabularylearning
strategies
Tointroducestudentstothenotionofcollocationandtothe
AcademicWordList
Task1:Trythisquickquiz.Checkonline.
1. HowmanywordsarethereinEnglish?
Atleast:(a)10,000(b)100,000(c)250,000(d)500,000
2. WinstonChurchillwasfamousforhisparticularlylargevocabulary.Howmany
wordsdidheuseinhiswriting?
a) 10,000(b)60,000(c)100,000(d)120,000
3. Howmanywordsdoestheaveragenativespeakeruseinhis/hereverydayspeech?
(a) 2,500(b)5,000(c)7,500(d)10,000
4. Howmanywordsmakeup45%ofeverythingwritteninEnglish?
(a) 50 (b)250c)1,000d)2,500
Task2:Howdoyoulearnvocabulary?Whatstrategiesdoyouuse?Howdoyourecord
vocabulary?Write5ideastosharewithyourASKTutorintheboxbelow
Task3:ListentoMichaelMcCarthy(authorofEnglishVocabularyinUse)talkingaboutthe
bestwaytomemorisenewvocabulary.Takenotesofanynewtipshegives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evTXudMf2M4.
Whatimplicationsdoesthishaveforlearningwordsconnectedtoyourdiscipline?
Task4:Whatdoesitmeantoknowaword?
Chooseawordfromtheboxandanswerthefollowingquestionsonit
cooperationsustainabilityauthenticity
scarcityabundancetransboundary,
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
Whatpartofspeechisit?
CanIgiveadefinition?
Doesthewordhavemultiplemeanings?
CanIuseitinasentence?
DoIknowwhichotherwordsitisoftenusedwith(collocation)*
Doesthewordhaveapositiveornegativeconnotation?
Doesithaveanyobvioussynonyms/antonyms?
Doesthewordhavearecognisableroot?
IsitawordIwoulduseinmywriting,orawordIjustneedforreading(isitfor
productiveorreceptiveuse)?
j) Ifproductive,wouldIneeditforspeakingorjustwriting?Anypotentialspelling
problems?CanIpronounceit?
Collocation–Usingwordsintheirpropercontext.
UseFlaxhttp://flax.nzdl.org/greenstone3/flax?a=fp&sa=librarytoseehowaword‘works’
clickon‘LearningCollocations’,ensurethesearchisthrough‘academicEnglishBAWE’and
typeinyourword.
Noticetheclickable‘familywords’atthetopofthepage,thetypicalpatternstheword
takes(spelledoutontheleft).Clickonthecollocationandyoucanreaditincontext.
TheAcademicWordList
Whatdoyouthinkitis?
Task5:PrioritisingVocabularytoLearn.
Inacademicreadingstherearelikelytobeanumberofnewwords,but
lookingupeveryonewilltaketoomuchtime.Agoodstudenthasstrong
vocabularyinferencemuscles.Hereishowtodevelopyours.
a)Decideifyouneedtounderstandthewordinordertounderstandthepassage.
b)Trytoguess(infer)themeaningfromcontextorfromthewordparts.
c)UseanEnglish-Englishdictionarytocheckthemeaningandusage.
Chooseoneofthetwoabstractsbelow.Highlightanywordswhicharenew.Readthetext
twoorthreetimesandtrytoinferthemeanings.Compareyourideaswithapartner(or
yourASKTutor)beforeyoucheckinadictionary.
(OxfordAdvancedLearners:http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/)
Abstract1:Destabilizingtheenvironment–conflictthesisbyJonBartlettinReviewof
InternationalStudies(2000),26,271–288Copyright©BritishInternationalStudies
Association
Theargumentthatenvironmentaldegradationwillleadtoconflictisawell-established
concernofinternationalstudies,anditdominatestheliteratureonenvironmental
security.Thisarticlecriticallyexaminestheoriesaboutwarsfoughtoverscarce
‘environmental’resources,‘waterwars’,andtheargumentthatpopulationgrowthmay
induceconflict.Onesignificantresearchprogramme—theProjectonEnvironment,
PopulationandSecurity—isalsodiscussed.Thearticleendswithanevaluationofthe
theoreticalmeritsandpracticaleffectsoftheenvironment–conflictthesis.Itarguesthat
theenvironment–conflictthesisistheoreticallyratherthanempiricallydriven,andisboth
aproductandlegitimationoftheNorthernsecurityagenda.
Abstract2:Responsibletourismmanagement:Themissinglinkbetweenbusiness
owners’attitudesandbehaviourintheCapeTowntourismindustrybyNicoleFrey,
RichardGeorgeTourismManagement31(2010)621–628Copyright©2009ElsevierLtd.
Theglobalthreatofclimatechange,diminishingnaturalresourcesandsignificantsocioeconomicinequalitiesisforcingcompaniesandindividualstoevaluatetheimpactthey
arehavingonthenatural,socialandeconomicenvironments.Thistrendhasledtoan
increasedavailabilityanddemandforsocially,environmentallyandeconomically
responsibleproducts.Thetourismindustryreliesheavilyonthesustainedbeautyand
hospitalityoftheplacesandcommunitiesitoperatesinandhascomeunderpressureto
manageitsnegativeandpositiveimpacts.Changeintheindustryhas,however,been
limited.
Thispaperinvestigatesthecurrentattitudesandperceptionsoftourismbusinessowners
inCapeTowntowardsresponsibletourismmanagement(RTM)practices.CapeTownas
aninternationallyacclaimedtoptourismdestinationneedstourgentlyaddressitslow
levelsofresponsibletourismevidence.Surveydataof244tourismbusinesseswereused
tostatisticallytestwhatfactorsarecausingthelowlevelsofRTMpracticesintheCape
Towntourismindustry.Findingssuggestthatdespitegeneralpositiveattitudestowards
RTM,businessesarenotinvestingtimeandmoneyintochangingmanagementpractices.
Thisisacommonemergingmarketphenomenonwhereresourceconstraintsnegatively
impacttherelationshipbetweenwhatbusinesseswouldliketodoandwhatactuallygets
done.FactorssuchastheperceivedcostofRTM,ahighlycompetitiveenvironmentanda
perceivedlackofgovernmentsupportarefurthernegativelyinfluencingthisrelationship.
RecommendationsaremadeastohowthecostsofimplementingRTMcanbereduced
andwhatchannelsshouldbeimplementedtofacilitatechange.
ThewordsIchosetolookup:
1
2
3
4
5
HowwillIrememberthese?
ByreadingandlisteninginEnglishyourvocabularywillimprove.However,activelearning
strategieswillacceleratethisprocess.KEEPANOTEBOOKANDUSEITTOREVISEFROM.
MaterialsUsed:
Task1quizfromEnglishVocabularyinUse(Upper-IntermediateandAdvanced)byDell
andMcCarthy,CUP,1998