THE ACADEMIC WORD LIST: EXPLORING TEACHER PRACTICES, ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS THROUGH A WEB-BASED SURVEY AND INTERVIEWS
Abstract
Abstract
This study explored the extent of use of Coxhead’s (2000) Academic Word List (AWL) by teachers of academic English. The attitudes and beliefs which inform teacher use were also investigated. The research comprised a self-administered online survey which gathered 193 responses from practitioners, supplemented by a small number of follow-up interviews. The survey found that the AWL is widely-used by teachers of academic English, both as a guide for course and materials design and as an instrument recommended for self-study use. English teachers adopt and adapt the list for use with their learners because they believe that it provides a principled basis to focus on general purposes academic vocabulary which is relevant to many learners. The survey confirms that the influence of the AWL as an inspiration for the creation of subject-specific lists is matched by a similar level of popularity amongst practitioners. However, teachers also expressed a number of important criticism s and misgivings with reference to the AWL, in particular concerns about misuse and misappropriation. This study can inform the production and design of future word lists, providing as it does a revealing snapshot of the ways teachers incorporate word lists into pedagogy. Moreover, the survey findings provide an example for researchers of the interplay of teacher beliefs, attitudes and pedagogic practice in the area of L2 vocabulary teaching.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
REFERENCES
Bauer, L. and Nation, P. (1993) ‘Word Families.’ International Journal of Lexicography, 6 (4): 253-279.
Borg, M. (2001) 'Teachers' beliefs.' ELT Journal, 55 (2): 186-188.
Borg, S. (2003) 'Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do.' Language Teaching, 36 (2): 81-109.
Borg, S. (2006). Teacher cognition and language education: Research and practice. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Brezina, V. and Gablasova, D. (2013) 'Is there a Core General Vocabulary? Introducing the New General Service List.' Applied Linguistics, 36 (1): 1-22.
Brinkmann, S. and Kvale, S. (2015) InterViews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (3rd edn.). London: Sage Publications Inc.
Browne, C., Culligan, B. and Phillips, J. (2013) 'A New General Service List' [online] Available at: http://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/ [Accessed on Apr 26th 2015]
Browne, C., Culligan, B. and Phillips, J. (2014) 'A New Academic Word List' [online] Available at: http://www.newacademicwordlist.org/ [Accessed on 19th Mar 2015]
Cobb, T and Horst, M. (2004) ‘Is there room for an academic word list in French?’ In P. Bogaards and B.Laufer (eds.) (2004) Vocabulary in a Second Language: 15-38. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamin Publishing Company.
Corson, D. (1995) Using English Words. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Coxhead, A. (2000) ‘A new academic word list.’ TESOL Quarterly, 34 (2): 213-238.
Coxhead, A. (2010) ‘Grabbed early by vocabulary: Nation’s ongoing contributions to vocabulary and reading in a foreign language.’ Reading in a Foreign language, 22 (1): 1-14.
Coxhead, A. (2011) ‘The Academic Word List 10 years on: research and teaching implications’. TESOL Quarterly, 45 (2): 355–62.
de Chazal, E. (2014) English for Academic Purposes. Oxford: OUP.
Dolowitz, D, Buckler, S. and Sweeney, F. (2008) Researching Online. Basingstoke, Hants., UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dornyei, Z. (2007) Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. Oxford: OUP
Dornyei, Z. with T. Taguchi (2010) Questionnaires in Second Language Research. Abingdon, Oxon., UK: Routledge.
Drever, E. (2003) Using semi-structured Interviews in Small Scale Research. A Teacher’s Guide. SCRE Publication 129. Glasgow: The SCRE Centre, University of Glasgow.
Fink, A. (2013) How To Conduct Surveys (5th edn.). London: Sage.
Folse, K. (2011) ‘Applying L2 Lexical research Findings In ESL Teaching.’ TESOL Quarterly, 45 (2): 362-369.
Fricker, R.D. (2008) Sampling Methods for Web and E-mail Surveys. In N. Fielding, R.M. Lee and G. Blank (eds.), Online Research Methods: 195-216. London: Sage.
Gardner, D. (2013) Exploring Vocabulary. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge.
Gardner, D. and Davies, M. (2014) ‘A New Academic Vocabulary List.’ Applied Linguistics, 35 (3): 305-327.
Gillett, A. (2009) UEFAP.com: Using English for Academic Purposes - A Guide For Students in Higher Education.
[online] Available at: http://www.uefap.com/ [Accessed on 7th August 2015]
Gillham, B. (2000) The Research Interview. London: Continuum.
Groves, R.M. (2006) 'Nonresponse rates and nonresponse bias in household surveys.' Public Opinion Quarterly, 70 (5): 646-675.
Hayward, S. (n.d.) Academic Vocabulary. [online] Available at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/alzsh3/acvocab/index.htm [Accessed on 7th August 2015]
Hyland, K. (2006) English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book. London: Routledge.
Hyland, K. and P. Tse. (2007) ‘Is there an ‘‘Academic Vocabulary’’?’ TESOL Quarterly, 41 (2): 235–53.
Lessard-Clouston, M. (2010) ‘Theology Lectures as lexical environments: A case study of technical vocabulary use.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9 (4): 308-321.
Lessard-Clouston, M. (2012/13) 'Word Lists for Vocabulary Learning and Teaching.' The CATESOL Journal, 24 (1): 287-304.
Li, Y. and Qian, D.D. (2010) ‘Profiling the Academic Word List (AWL) in a financial corpus.’ System, 38: 402-411.
Martinez, R. (2014) Vocabulary and Formulaic Language. In P. Driscoll, E. Macaro and A. Swarbrick (eds.) Debates in Modern Languages Education: 121-134. Abingdon, Oxon., UK: Routledge.
Martinez, R. and Schmitt, N. (2012) ‘A phrasal expressions list.’ Applied linguistics, April 15th :1-23..
Minshall, D.E. (2013) 'A Computer Science Word List' [PDF] (Unpublished MA dissertation) Swansea University. Available at: https://www.baleap.org/media/uploads/dissertation-awards/2014/Daniel_Minshall_Dissertation_Final_Draft.pdf [Accessed on 26th Apr 2015]
Nation, I.S.P. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: CUP.
Nation, I.S.P. (2011) My Ideal Vocabulary Teaching Course. In J. Macalister and I.S.P. Nation (eds.) Case Studies in Language Curriculum Design: 49-62. Abingdon, Oxon., UK: Routledge.
Nation, I.S.P. (2013) What should every ESL teacher know?[e-book] Available at: http://www.compasspub.com/english/book/book_view.asp?h_seq=1721 [Accessed on 25th July 2015]
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and attitude Measurement (new edn.). London: Continuum.
Paquot, M. (2010) Academic Vocabulary in Learner Writing: From Extraction to analysis. London & New York: Continuum.
Punch, K.F. (2003) Survey Research. London: Sage Publications.
Rea, L.M. and Parker, R.A. (2014) Designing and Conducting Survey Research: A Comprehensive Guide. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
Revesz, A. (2012) Coding Second Language Data Validly and Reliably: 204-221. In A. Mackey and S.M. Gass, Research Methods in Second Language Acquisition. Chichester, UK: Blackwell.
Richards, J.C. (1974) 'Word Lists: Problems and Prospects.' RELC, V (2): 69-84.
Schmitt, N. (2000) Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Schmitt, N. and Schmitt, D. (2014) ‘A reassessment of frequency and vocabulary size in L2 vocabulary teaching.’ Language Teaching, 47 (4): 484-503.
Schmitt, N. and Schmitt, D. (2011) Focus on Vocabulary 2: Mastering the Words of the Academic Word List (2nd edn.) Harlow, UK: Longman.
Schmitt, N., Liang, X. and Grabe, W. (2011) 'The Percentage of Words Known in a Text and Reading Comprehension.' The Modern Language Journal, 95: 26-43.
SurveyMonkey (n.d.) 'The Likert Scale Explained.' Available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/likert-scale/ [Accessed on 24th July 2015]
Thornbury, S. (2002) How to teach vocabulary. Harlow, Essex, UK: Pearson Education Ltd.
Wang Ming-Tzu, K. and Nation, ISP. (2004) 'Word meaning in academic English: Homography in the academic word list.' Applied linguistics, 25 (3): 291-314.
Victoria University. (2013) ‘School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Useful Links.’ [online] Available at: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/links [Accessed on 26th Apr 2015]
Wang, J., Liang, S. and Ge, G. (2008) 'Establishment of a Medical Academic Word List.' English for Specific Purposes, 27: 442-458.
West, M. (1953) A General Service List of English Words. London: Longman.
Woods, D. (1996) Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP.
Yang, M. (2014) 'A nursing academic word list.' English for Specific Purposes, 37: 27-38.
Zwier, L. J. (2013) Inside Reading 2: The Academic Word List in context (2nd edn.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
ISSN 2334-9182 (Print)
ISSN 2334-9212 (Online)