Words for what? Contrasting university students’ receptive and productive academic vocabulary needs
Journal article, 2018

With the objective of determining what academic vocabulary students use productively, and exploring the relationship between receptive and productive academic vocabulary, this paper continues the dialog on what constitutes academic vocabulary. By adopting a set of principled criteria (ratio, dispersion, discipline specificity and range) and by approximating the procedures from a recent study of academic vocabulary, the academic vocabulary found in students' writing is identified and subsequently compared to the academic vocabulary found in published academic writing (indexical of receptive purposes). Nearly 600 words emerge as being represented significantly more frequently in students' academic writing than in their non-academic writing, demonstrating that students distinguish in their writing between academic and non-academic vocabulary. Furthermore, the investigation finds significant differences between students' productive academic vocabulary and academic vocabulary serving receptive purposes, suggesting that students' productive and receptive academic vocabulary needs are far from identical. The findings reported here are intended to serve as a tool for EAP educators working to help students develop academic vocabulary fit for purpose, as well as an incentive for EAP researchers to continue to explore the nature of academic vocabulary.

Productive

Academic vocabulary

Vocabulary list

Receptive

Academic writing

Author

Hans Malmström

Chalmers, Communication and Learning in Science, Language and Communication

Diane Pecorari

City University of Hong Kong

Philip Shaw

Stockholm University

English for Specific Purposes

0889-4906 (ISSN)

Vol. 50 28-39

Subject Categories

Languages and Literature

Educational Sciences

Learning

General Language Studies and Linguistics

Specific Languages

Learning and teaching

Pedagogical work

DOI

10.1016/j.esp.2017.11.002

More information

Latest update

9/11/2019