1

Academic Language
Introduction
2 Introduction

 Acquiring a ready proficiency in the English language

[ability to use and understand a language easily,
confidently & accurately in a variety of settings] or
any other language associated with academic study,
is vital for students.
 Proficiency in a language enables us to access the
widest opportunities for learning.
3 Introduction

 You learn vocabulary in order to be able to understand

what you read or hear.
 Learning vocabulary also enables you to express
yourself.
 This involves more than the ability to communicate in
everyday conversational contexts, but is specifically
related to the use of language for academic
purposes.
 This semester, our focus shall be on the practice of
academic language in English.
4 What is Academic Language?

 Language used for discussing ideas and research and

for talking and writing about academic work
 Academic language is expressed in standard English
(or other language) rather than any non-standard
language variant or dialect.
 Academic language is also formal rather than
informal.
 It is commonly a form of language which is closely
associated with writing rather than talk.
5 General Guidelines on Vocabulary

 What you need:

1. A good dictionary: you can access Cambridge
Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at
http://dictionary.cambridge.org.
 A good dictionary will help with:
• pronunciation - how to pronounce the word
• spelling - how to spell the word
6 General Guidelines on Vocabulary

• grammatical patterns - whether the word is a noun,

verb, adjective etc and which patterns it occurs in
• collocations - which other words it typically occurs
with
• frequency - how common the word is
• register - which type of language the word is used in,
letters or reports, spoken or written biology or
business etc?
7 General Guidelines on Vocabulary

• meaning - what the word means

• formation - how the word is made up e.g.
What other words or affixes are part of the
word? Which other words is it related to?
• connotations - what other meanings a word
has, as well as its main meaning e.g. Is it a
positive or negative word?
8 General Guidelines on Vocabulary

2. A notebook:
 To write new words or expressions that you
come across.
 Note down examples of the word or expression
in use
 Note down word collocations: typical word
combinations i.e., words that often go together.
E.g.
9 General Guidelines on Vocabulary
10 General Guidelines on Vocabulary

 Read as much English as you can not only in

your subject areas but also in general
materials such as novels, newspapers and
magazines.
NB:
 The best way to master vocabulary is to hear,
read, write or speak a word in different
contexts.
11 Aspects of Academic Vocabulary

1. General academic vocabulary: Includes

words that appear frequently in all academic
texts. They are not specially connected with
any particular subject and so they are very
useful for all students.
 Many words in academic English are the same
as everyday vocabulary, but they are often
used with a slightly different meaning.
12 Aspects of Academic Vocabulary
13 Aspects of Academic Vocabulary

 Academic Word list: Comprises 570

commonly used academic words such as
research, data, analyse, assume, derive etc
 The words can then be used to form other
words e.g., analyse, analysis, analysing and so
on.
 These words are not so common in everyday
writing or speech
14 Aspects of Academic Vocabulary

2. Technical/Discipline-specific vocabulary:
Specific to your field of study
 They may not be used much outside of your
discipline. E.g., Business students may use
terms such as Return on Investment, Venture
Capital, Appreciation and Depreciation while
students in Mathematics may come across
terms such as Differential, Digit, Algebra and
Binomial.
15 Vocabulary and Academic Style

 Academic language resides more on the formal

than the informal side of the formal/informal
language continuum.
 Some expressions may be neutral while others
are formal.
 Neutral expressions can be used in spoken
academic styles such as in class but should be
avoided in academic writing.
 See examples below:
16 Vocabulary and Academic Style

Neutral Formal
in short, briefly, basically in sum, to sum up,
fundamentally
only Sole(ly)
Almost, more or less virtually
try attempt
Mainly, mostly primarily
Typical of Characteristic of
17 Vocabulary and Academic Style

 The words in bold below, can be used in speech but

should be avoided in academic writing.
 ‘OK. Have a shot at doing task number 3.’ [more
formal: Try/Attempt to do ... ]
 ‘There’s no way schools can be held responsible for
failures of government policy.’ [more formal: Schools
cannot in any way be held ... ]
 ‘The process involved putting data over and over
again’.. [more formal: entering, repeatedly]
18 Vocabulary and Academic Style

 Academic language tries to be clear and precise, so it is

important to learn the differences between similar
words.
1. The photograph was useless. It was blurred and out of
focus.
2. Child poverty should be the focus of our attention in the
coming years.
3. I went online and confirmed my flight reservation.
4. The data the hypothesis confirmed that animal-lovers
enjoy better health.
19 Nominalization

 Academic language often uses complex noun phrases

where other forms of writing would more likely use verbs..
 Nominalization is the process of making a noun from a verb
or adjective.
 E.g., instead of saying
1. Radiation was accidentally released over a 24-hour
period, damaging a wide area for a long time
 The accidental release of radiation over a 24-hour period
caused widespread long-term damage. [Academic language]
20 Nominalization

2.The man is poor. His children beg for food.

 Poverty has increased the number of child beggars.
 The first example relies on verbs and
provides description.
 The second provides explanation, using nominalization
for at least one of those verbs: ‘poverty’ rather than ‘is
poor’.
 So now we can start talking about poverty as a concept.
21 Nominalization
Key Verb + Noun form Example
verb of verb
Explain give/provide/offer an The model provides an
explanation (of/for) explanation for the differences
between the two sets of data
Explore undertake / carry James undertook an
out an exploration exploration of music genres.
(of)
Emphasiz place/put emphasis The hospital puts a lot of
e (on) emphasis on training.
Describe give/provide a The book gives a description of
description (of) the coastal region
Affect have an effect on Climate change has an effect on
sea levels.
22 Exercise: Nominalize the
sentences
1. People often feel depressed and powerless because they have no
control over their lives.
2. The number of people consuming fast food increased significantly
in 2005.
3. The errors in the sentence were removed, which made it look much
better.
4. Wealth is distributed around the world very unfairly.
5. I analysed the data and it showed that uptake of the drug had
increased.
23 Chunks: Useful Phrases

 Academic discourse makes use of certain chunks of

language that occur very frequently in spoken and
written contexts.
 Try to learn these phrases as whole units.
 E.g., in terms of, in addition to, for the most part, in
the case of, etc.
 Chunks expressing number, quantity, degree
 A great deal of, a wide range of, to what extent, in a
variety of ways, in excess of
24 Chunks: Useful Phrases

 Chunks for generalizing and specifying

 On the whole, with respect to, for the purposes of, in
general, as a rule, for the most part
 Chunks for linking points and arguments
 Due to the fact that, be that as it may (although I
accept this to be true –more common in speech than
in writing) for this reason, in addition to, as opposed
to, at the same time
25 Choose the best chunk to complete the sentence

1. _________ our discussion I’d like to focus on the Kenyan context.

A. For the purposes of B. In the sense that C. From the point of view of
2. There is some evidence of an improvement in the economy but,_________
, there is unlikely to be much change before next year.
A. for this reason B. as a rule C. be that as it may
3. I’d like to consider education __________ industry.
A. in the case of B. from the point of view of C. with the exception of
4. I’m not sure _________ she agrees with his theory.
A. by means of which B. to what extent C. as regards
5. We will now discuss _____________ the development of the Surrealist
Movement .
A. on the whole B. to some extent C. in more detail
26 Complete the second sentence using a noun
phrase. Use a dictionary if necessary.

1. People who investigated the problem biologically came to no firm

conclusions.
Biological investigations of the problem came to no firm conclusions.
2. When they developed antibiotics, it revolutionized medicine.
The ------------------ antibiotics caused a ------------------- in medicine.
3. They solved the problem by altering the deck of the bridge.
The ------------------ to the problem was an --------------- to the deck of the
bridge.
4. Exploring Antarctica has always been especially challenging.
The ---------------- of Antarctica has always presented special
------------------.
27
Thank You!