1. The Academic Word List (AWL) INTUIT Closing conference 30 January 2008 Riet Bettonviel –Tilburg University Ruben Comadina Granson – Language Centre, University of Groningen

2. What is Academic Vocabulary? Why activating and extending Academic Vocabulary? Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary

3. A corpus of over 400 written academic texts, about 3.5 million words. Core academic vocabulary: the 570 words on the Academic Word List. The words are divided into 10 sublists according to frequency. Averil Coxhead’s AWL – Brief Introduction Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary

4. Pilot University of Groningen Introducing first-year IE&B students to AWL AWL in Blackboard First writing assignment Teacher Feedback Running first writing assignment through AWL Highlighter Reflective Report

5. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot University of Groningen A.G.O. –AIM: Students able to produce writing texts at an academic level. –GOAL: Students become aware of, use, and apply academic vocabulary accordingly. –OBJECTIVES:Students will expand their academic vocabulary using the AWL.

6. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot University of Groningen Findings Aware of “academic vocabulary” Better use of lexis Confidence to activate passive vocabulary

7. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot University of Groningen Conclusions and Recommendations Increase value through tool integration Raise awareness Activate passive vocabulary Set new goals

8. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot University of Groningen The Future Use in a variety of settings Fine-tuning through evaluation Our own version?

9. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot Tilburg University Pre-Master students Sub Lists 1-7 Research Report Texts from content courses Test: Multiple Choice

10. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot Tilburg University Aims Academic Vocabulary within a context Opportunity to practise Passive knowledge (test) Active knowledge (writing papers) Awareness

11. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot Tilburg University Evaluation No (technical) problems (96%) Use of AWL Highlighter (55%) Better command of Academic Vocab (39%) Awareness increases (55%) Pay more attention to Acad. Vocab (55%) Prefer AWL system to regular rote learning (43%) Planning to use AWL in future (33%)

12. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot Tilburg University Conclusions Translation lists vs. AWL ( combination of the two ) In a context No major improvement in written work More work ( for students and teachers ) Higher level of awareness

13. Activating and Extending Academic Vocabulary Pilot Tilburg University Future of AWL Highlighter UvT List based on AWL (+ extra) Including: Synonym(s) Translation (Dutch) Preposition(s) Word type Example Sentence