Innovative Methods and Practices of Academic Writing and Writing Instruction
USING VOCABULARY AS AN INDICATOR OF DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC LITERACY AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS
1 2 3 Hans Malmström , Magnus Gustavsson , Diane Pecorari
1
Division for Language and Communication, Department of Applied IT, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, SWEDEN 2 Division for Language and Communication, Department of Applied IT, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, SWEDEN 3 Department of Languages, Linnaeus University, Växjö, SWEDEN
In many university contexts around the world, students’ mastery of English academic vocabulary is considered necessary if they are to be properly socialized into academic discourse, and therefore succeed in their academic endeavors. This study is part of the PROFiLEproject (a project concerned with English Medium Instruction and the development of academic literacies) and is among the first to draw on the new Academic Vocabulary List (Gardner & Davis 2013) to conduct empirical research regarding students’ knowledge of academic vocabulary. Using a 750,000word corpus of written course work from students’ first and second year of study in MSc programs in four different disciplines, and by relying on a methodology of lexical profiling, we investigate students’ productive knowledge of academic vocabulary. Three research questions provide direction for the study and address some widespread assumptions regarding academic words from the research literature: (i) How much and what type of academic vocabulary do MSc students use when writing in English during their first and second year of study? (ii) Is there a positive development of students’ productive knowledge over time such that second year written assignments contain more academic vocabulary, and/or academic vocabulary of a different kind? (iii) Is it possible to predict academic success on the basis of students’ productive knowledge of academic vocabulary, i.e. do students who obtain good grades use more academic vocabulary and/or academic vocabulary of a different kind as compared to students who obtain lower grades? The results have implications for teachers of academic writing and for teachers and administrators in English Medium Instruction.
References
Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2013). A new academic vocabulary list. Applied Linguistics , Advance Access published August 2, 2013. doi:10.1093/applin/amt015