Exposure to and Focus on GSL, AWL and BNL Words and Use of Online Tools Can Contribute to the Quality of Academic Writing

Nilgun Hancioglu Eldridge and Sezgi Yalin, North Cyprus

Nilgun Hancioglu Eldridge is an Assistant Professor at the School of Foreign Languages, Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus. She did her PhD research on integrating corpus data into the post-graduate thesis writing course she has been teaching for the last 10 years. Apart from corpus studies and especially corpus-informed approaches, her research interests include academic writing, data-driven learning, lexical semantics, and lexico-grammar. Due to her current administrative position as the Director of the School of Foreign Languages at the Eastern Mediterranean University, her research interests now also include leadership, change management, and performance management. E-mail: hancioglu.nilgun@gmail.com

Sezgi Yalin earned her M.A. as a Fulbright scholar in teaching English as a foreign language at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She worked as an English teacher, teacher trainer and director of studies in the USA and Poland, and gained additional experience in the field in various countries such as the UK, Spain, Egypt, China, Nepal, Tibet, Vietnam, Cyprus and Turkey. A freelance Pilgrims and CELTA trainer, Sezgi currently spends half of her year training teachers at St. Giles International Language Learning and Teacher Training Center in San Francisco. The rest of the year, when she is not traveling to teach or train, she is a stay-at-home mother. Visit www.sezgiyalinteachingntravelling.com to read more about Sezgi’s work in ELT and her travel experiences around the world.

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Background
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
Activity 6
Activity 7
Activity 8
Activity 9
Activity 10
Activity 11
Activity 12
References

Background

Producing coherent and cohesive written discourse necessitates being able to use lexis accurately and appropriately. However, many EFL students exhibit a limited knowledge of lexis, particularly academic lexis, and therefore, this may prevent them from developing their academic writing skills to higher levels. Exposure to and focus on the lists such as the General Service List (GSL), the Academic Word List (AWL), and the Billuroglu-Neufeld List (BNL) and use of online tools such as Vocabulary Profiler, Online Concordancer, and the AWL Gapmaker through systematic productive activities can lead to an improvement in academic writing. Below are some activities designed to help students to identify and solve problems with lexis and thus produce higher quality academic writing.

Activity 1

i) Below is a list of verbs that can be used to describe people’s jobs, i.e, what they do. Decide which of these verbs belong to AWL.

mediate
warn
comfort
lead
guide
order
manipulate
deal
interpret
communicate

ii) Copy and paste the list of verbs in (i) into the Vocabulary Profiler and underline the verbs which belong to AWL. Compare the underlined words to your answer in (i).

iii) Choose a role for yourself from the list below.

banker    accountant    moneylender    gambler    economist    trader
stockbroker    bookmaker    tax inspector    cashier    forger    financial journalist    investor

iv) Use as many verbs as you can from the list in (i) and write an academic job description for the role you have chosen in (ii). Start like this: A banker's job involves ...

v) Use the Online Concordancer to check if the verbs you have used in your description correctly and appropriately collocate with the words that come before or after them. Collocations are words that go together (these words can tolerate being together!).

Words in activity 1 are from: Burgmeier, A., Eldred, G., & Zimmerman, C. B. (1991). Lexis: Academic Vocabulary Study. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Activity 2

i) Match the adjectives and the nouns in the table below by inserting the number of the adjective in the relevant box on the right. Some of the adjectives might collocate with more than one noun. Be careful. Some of the adjectives and nouns might not collocate at all.

ii) Use the Online Concordancer where possible to check your answers in (i).

iii) Match the adverbs and the adjectives in the table below by inserting the number of the adverbs in the boxes on the right. Some of the adverbs might collocate with more than one adjective.

iv) Use the Online Concordancer where possible to check your answers in (iii).

v) Match the verbs and the adverbs in the table below by inserting the number of the verbs in the boxes on the right. Some of the verbs might collocate with more than one adverb.

vi) Use the Online Concordancer where possible to check your answers in (v).

vii) Use one collocation from each table to write three sentences of academic nature. e.g. It would be virtually impossible to deny the artistic validity and importance of the whole abstract movement.

Activity 3

i) The sentences below are all examples of informal spoken English. Rewrite them without changing their meaning so that they can fit into an academic text. If you wish, you can use the thesaurus, the Online Concordancer and the Vocabulary Profiler to get help.

1. Garbage from factories will make the water filthy.
2. Fat people should watch out what they eat.
3. You need food to live, you know.
4. The government didn't let people meet in large crowds.

ii) Do you think your sentences are more academic now? Use the Vocabulary Profiler to see which of the words you have used are from the GSL or AWL.

Activity 4

i) There are two lists of words in the table below. Match those which could be used in the same context.

ii) Write six academic sentences with the words you matched in i) or develop them into short paragraphs. You can change the forms of the words if necessary.

Activity 5

i) In the following exercise, called the AWL Gapmaker, general academic words from the Academic Word List (Sublist 1- the most frequent words of the Academic Word List in the Academic Corpus) are replaced by a gap. Read the text and fill in the blanks with the necessary words. Click on The AWL Gapmaker

Activity 5/i) from: University of Nottingham. The Academic Word List Gapmaker. Retrieved March 19, 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlgapmaker.htm

ii) Make a sentence with each of the academic words in (i).

Activity 6

Teacher Notes: Follow the steps below to assist students in collocating words and to encourage them to use the Online Concordancer.

1/ Copy the academic text (an introduction to a thesis) below on an OHT (or use PowerPoint).

2/ Cover the whole introduction on the OHP and reveal it word/phrase by word/phrase. Each time you reveal a word/phrase, ask the student which word or phrase might follow it.

3/ The student records his/her guess on paper.
e.g. Teacher (T): An (the word revealed by the teacher)
Student (S): An attempt (the student records ‘an’ and ‘attempt’)
T: An elaborate (the teacher reveals the next word)
S: An elaborate design (the student records ‘an elaborate design’)
T: An elaborate system (the teacher reveals the next word and continues with the task until the students have at least 5 different phrases on their list)

4/ At the end of the task, the student has a list similar to the one below:
an attempt
an elaborate design
an elaborate system of writing
an elaborate system of marking papers

5/ The student is then asked to confirm whether the words in the phrases on his/her list collocate well with each other by using the Online Concordancer. For example, the student enters the word ‘elaborate’ into the Online Concordancer and checks if it collocates with the word ‘design’. If the target collocation does not appear in the concordancer, the teacher then helps the student to evaluate whether the words in the lexical chunk collocate with each other.

An elaborate system of marking social distance and respect is found in the morphology of Nahuatl as spoken in communities of the Malinche volcano area in the Mexican states of Tlaxcala and Puebla. The complexity of the morphology involved, the semantic range of the elements, and the variation in the system in use raise questions of considerable interest for our understanding of the form and function of such systems, both in Nahuatl itself and in other languages.

A system of elements usually referred to as 'honorifics' or 'reverentials' is reported by all the grammarians of Classical Nahuatl (cf. Olmos, 1547; Molina, 1571a; Carochi, 1645; Simeon, 1885; Garibay, 1970; Anderson, 1973; Andrews, 1975). Similar systems are reported for several modern varieties of Nahuatl (cf. Whorf, 1946 for Milpa Alta in the Federal District; Pitman, 1948 for Tetelcingo in Morelos; and Buchler and Freeze, 1966 and Buhler, 1967 for Hueyapan and Atempan in northern Puebla). None of these reports, except for Pittman's, describes the system in much detail. The present account is based on materials collected in 1974-75 and during the summer of 1976 in a linguistic survey of Nahuatl-speaking communities on the western and south-western slopes of the Malinche volcano.

Introduction adapted from: School of Combined Studies: University of Hertfordshire. (2003). Using English for Academic Purposes. Retrieved March 23, 2004 from the World Wide Web: www.uefap.co.uk/writing/writfram.htm

Activity 7

i) Cross out the word or phrase that does not have the same meaning as the others.

1. In prehistoric times, people (survived/existed/progressed/continued living) by hunting and gathering food.
2. The (pursuit/hunt/chase/crusade) for food led to the invention of weapons for hunting.
3. When humans (tamed/raised/domesticated/expanded) animals, meat became a basic part of their diet.
4. The potato has been (credited to/traced to/based on/attributed to) the Irish.
5. The (existence/dominance/prominence/significance) of food in everyday life in America is visible in the home, in food markets, in restaurants, and in food-related industries.
6. As an integral part of their traffic accidents prevention campaign, the police (emphasize/highlight/accomplish/stress) the importance of careful driving.
7. The remainder of this essay will (be delivered in/be divided into/consist of/be comprised of) three main sections.

Task i) and sentences 1-5 from: Burgmeier, A., Eldred, G., & Zimmerman, C. B. (1991). Lexis: Academic Vocabulary Study. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

ii) Fill in the gaps in the concordance extracts below. You can use the Online Concordancer if you find it impossible to fill in the gaps yourself.

Note for the Teacher: Tasks ii), iii) and iv) focus on only the words 'survive', 'continue to live', 'progress', and 'exist'.

1. ton, was dissolved in 1799. Henry continued to live a l..e of excess. He built
2. claims that a strong economic c..e existed for ref....l. As long as this elem
3. he classification of stocks which existed pr..r to January 1991, fixed intere
4. show quite clearly that it n...r existed. The myth was probably sparked off
5. applied to the circumstances that existed w..n they were formulated, a hundr
6. announced that a "state of war now existed w..h the US. Gen Noriega's appar
7. ntricate web of mutual dependency existed b..w..n the state and private indiv
8. tish industrial life seems to have progressed d..n...ds since the 1939/45 war. T
9. as a schoolboy player and where he progressed t.....h the ranks. Lyall, 53 la
10. e became reserve player-coach and progressed .. be...e Lyall's first team coach
11. half and recover d....es if he had survived. Furthermore, d....es recoverable
12. e from goodness only knows, but it survived i....ss, unhappiness and the hum d
13. f three sons and one daughter who survived in...cy (out of eight children) of
14. n with her weapons. Min and Neith survived ..t. the Dynastic Period but the f
15. ten years before the sack, but it survived remarkably w..., and its stained g
16. because a few old vegetables have survived .. long, it doesn't mean we should
17. pop music, remnants of which have survived the y...s.And there were boys.

iii) Now, can you determine which of the words/phrases are best used in the following concordance extracts? Remember, the words/phrases are 'survive', 'continue to live', 'progress', and 'exist'.

1. "There is little doubt that here    ?    a town in the time of the Britons"
2. announced that a "state of war now    ?    with the US. Gen Noriega's appar
3. applied to the circumstances that    ?    when they were formulated, a hundr
4. as a schoolboy player and where he    ?    through the ranks. Lyall, 53 la
5. as, who, though badly mauled, have    ?    a bloody, two-year battle against
6. at half-time 6--0 down. Having    ?    the worst Braintree hit back well a
7. because a few old vegetables have    ?    so long, it doesn't mean we should
8. claims that a strong economic case    ?    for referral. As long as this elem
9. d modern judicial institutions as    ?    in tsarist Russia were largely den
10. e became reserve player-coach and    ?    to become Lyall's first team coach
11. e from goodness only knows, but it    ?    illness, unhappiness and the hum d
12. ed industrial base has previously    ?    , money obtained by the state could,
13. f three sons and one daughter who    ?    infancy (out of eight children) of
14. ghter would almost certainly have    ?    him. He calculated that by the age
15. half and recover damages if he had    ?    Furthermore, damages recoverable
16. he classification of stocks which    ?    prior to January 1991, fixed intere
17. JC: I wonder how far the piece had    ?    when I engaged you to come and sin
18. Company set up during the 1880s    ?    the abandonment of the project, the
19. it had to do was exist and have    ?    and go on existing, to record, to
20. with her weapons. Min and Neith    ?    into the Dynastic Period but the f
21. ntricate web of mutual dependency    ?    between the state and private indiv
22. onquest, a considerable difference    ?    between the conditions encountered
23. pop music, remnants of which have    ?    the years. And there were boys.
24. him that she yearned, breathed,    ?    Without him, life would mean noth
25. shore and she thought few adults    ?    more than two years. She likened th
26. show quite clearly that it never    ?    The myth was probably sparked off
27. St Sepulchre's Church Holborn had    ?    the Fire of London, and had offere
28. ten years before the sack, but it    ?    remarkably well, and its stained g
29. that were beginning to start    ?    Kerr said: "We are so pleased wi
30. the rather amateur cameras who had    ?    the bombing to record that happy e
31. tish industrial life seems to have    ?    downwards since the 1939/45 war.
32. ton, was dissolved in 1799. Henry    ?    a life of excess. He built numer
33. tten's death in 1976 Sir Peter has    ?    at the Red House where he obser
34. ty I still find there today. We    ?    the General Strike of 1926, as we c

iv) Can you now match the sentence halves below? There may be more than one match for some halves, but there is only solution for the entire set.

Many thanks to Steve Neufeld for helping us expand activity #7.

Activity 8

i) Look at the phrase extracts from the Online Concordancer below and decide the most suitable form of a certain word that starts with the letter 'e' in English. Be careful, different forms of this word will be necessary.

1. This points to shifting the e ___________ away from direct tax on people's ............
2. management philosophies that e__________ excellent execution over innovation ........
3. put a significantly more e_________ performance together .........
4. Most of the e__________ has been placed on ..........
5. President Clinton is scheduled to proclaim May 7-13 as "Global Science and Technology Week" to e___________ the importance of .............
6. issued "an e________ warning .......

ii) Now, try to complete the sentences above. To check, click on the keyword (the one you have just completed) to check if the sentence you have written is similar to the original.

Activity 9

In recent years, applied researchers (1) have become increasingly interested in the interpersonal relationships with manager-subordinate dyads. (2) The majority of studies have focused on actual similarity between managers and their subordinates as related to managers’ appraisals of subordinates’ performance (Miles, 1964; Nieva, 1976; Rude, 1970; Senger, 1971), subordinates’ job satisfaction (Huber, 1970) and subordinates’ evaluations of their managers (Weiss, 1977). (3) A few studies have examined the extent to which subordinates congruently perceive their managers (referred to here as “subordinate’s perceptual congruence”). These studies suggest that subordinates who are more perceptually aware of their superiors’ work-related attitudes receive higher performance evaluations (Golmieh, 1974; Green, 1972; Labovitz, 1972) and are more satisfied with their superiors (Howard, 1968).

(4) Each of these previous studies has researched only a part of this complex dyadic interpersonal relationship. First, (5) none of the studies has examined the effects of a manager’s congruent perception of a subordinate’s work-related attitudes (i.e., “manager’s perceptual congruence”). Second, (6) no studies can be found that directly compare the relative importance of actual similarity with that of perceptual congruence. Third, (7) none of the previous studies has looked at interpersonal perception by the manager and by the subordinates simultaneously within the same dyad.

(8) The purpose of the present field investigation was to study both actual similarity and perceptual congruence and to examine them from the perspective of both the manager and the subordinate. (9) The study investigated the relationships of these perceptual processes in two important organizational outcomes: subordinates’ satisfaction with work and supervision, and managers’ evaluations of subordinates’ job performance. Specifically, (10) the study examined: (a) the relative magnitude of perceptual congruence and actual similarity with these two organizational outcomes; (b) whether the more congruently a subordinate perceives the manager (subordinate’s perceptual congruence), the more satisfied the subordinate will be; and (c) whether the more congruently a manager perceives the subordinate (manager’s perceptual congruence), the higher the subordinate’s performance will be evaluated.

Introduction from: School of Combined Studies: University of Hertfordshire. (2003). Using English for Academic Purposes. Retrieved March 23, 2004 from the World Wide Web: www.uefap.co.uk/writing/writfram.htm

Step 1: Read the introduction above and study the underlined phrases carefully.

Step 2: Study the phrases in the table below and tick (√) the ones that could replace the underlined phrases in (i). Write the numbers of the relevant underlined parts next to the phrases below. Be careful, these phrases will have to undergo some changes in order to fit into the text.

Step 3: Now, replace the underlined phrases with phrases from the table below by making the necessary changes.

Activity 10

There are four AWL words in the student essay below.

1. Can you decide which ones they are? ______________________________________________________
2. What made you think so? ______________________________________________________________
3. Can you also decide which words are off-list words? ________________________________________________________________________
4. Use the Vocabulary Profiler to check your answers in (iii).

Activity 11

Read the essay below carefully. The underlined phrases have different problems.

Phrase 1/ Should this have been

a/ the most important one that I remembered?
b/ the most important one that I remember?
Do you think phrase #1 can be comfortably used in an academic essay? Can we replace it with a more academic phrase?
________________________________________________________________________

Phrase 2/ Should this have been
a/ was judged?
b/ was put on trial?
Do you think the correct phrase can be made even more academic? If so, what would it be? ____________________________________________________________________

Phrase 3/ Should this have been
a/ emerged as?
b/ emerged into?
What is the difference between them? If necessary, use the Online Concordancer to see the difference.
________________________________________________________________________

Activity 12

All the underlined phrases in the same essay below have lexical mistakes. Correct them by using the Online Concordancer where possible.

References

Burgmeier, A., Eldred, G., & Zimmerman, C. B. (1991). Lexis: Academic Vocabulary Study. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Cobb, T. Compleat Lexical tutor. Retrieved March 27, 2012, from http://conc.lextutor.ca/list_learn/eng/.

School of Combined Studies: University of Hertfordshire. (2003). Using English for

Academic Purposes. Retrieved March 23, 2004 from the World Wide Web: www.uefap.co.uk/writing/writfram.htm

University of Nottingham. The Academic Word List Gapmaker. Retrieved March 19,

2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/awlgapmaker.htm

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