Vocabulary

English for Academic Study: Vocabulary

Although I’m a fan of Academic Vocabulary in Use (which I reviewed here five years ago), I’ve long been looking for an alternative that is lower level, covers less stuff more thoroughly, and concentrates more on the language that I think the majority of my EAP students really need at this stage – perhaps even something I can recommend to IELTS students too (rather than warning them not to waste their time with it until they’ve passed).

Garnet Education’s English for Academic Study: Vocabulary Study Book takes a very different approach. Firstly, it’s purely for self-study. More importantly, it’s based directly on the General Service List of 2,000 frequently used word families (GSL) and (mainly) the first 300 word families from the Academic Word List (AWL). The AWL contains vocabulary which is common in academic writing but not in the GSL. The GSL words are used to introduce the concepts needed to learn vocabulary (multi-meaning words, word classes, word families, word parts, collocations and word grammar) in the first five units, then these aspects of the first five sublists of the AWL are explored in the last five units. (The AWL is arranged into sublists by frequency, making the first five sublists the most frequent examples of the AWL).
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The Company Words Keep

In The Company Words Keep the authors, Paul Davis and Hanna Kryszewska, put forward a strong case for adopting a more lexical approach to language acquisition. The title is divided into three main parts: part A outlines the theory behind the book, B sets out a number of exercises to be used in the classroom and the third encourages the instructor to reflect on his/her lessons and his/her learners. It also has suggestions of how to continue professional development in this area. To get the most out of this title in a language college setting, it would benefit from a workshop session led by someone who has read and cherry-picked activities relevant to the learners and equipment available. I found this book encouraged me to be more conscious of the elements of lexical approach that I was already incorporating in my teaching. Some of the exercises will probably be familiar to more experienced teachers (depending on the teaching methodology and coursebooks used) but there are so many activities that there’s bound to be something new.
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English Vocabulary in Use

The English Vocabulary in Use books have been around for a long time and are, I feel, invaluable classroom resources, so I was eager to see how the latest edition fared.

As in previous editions, the book is comprised of stand-alone units offering clear explanations and practice exercises which are ideal for supplementary class materials or self-study practice.

The book has 100 Units practising different vocabulary areas. There are 35 general topic-based units covering areas such as the weather, describing people, education, food, health, crime, money, and many more. The next nine units then look in more detail at feelings and actions, covering beliefs, likes, feelings and senses. These units also dealt with commenting on problematic situations and ways of offering praise and criticism, which I felt were useful areas to cover. Basic concepts, including time, quantity, dimensions, texture, are covered in the next ten-unit section. Linking words, word formation, words and pronunciation, (un)countable nouns and phrasal verbs all have individual sections of at least three units each after that. The final section introduces variety and style and looks at (in)formal language, similes, proverbs
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Macmillan Collocations Dictionary

When it comes to English fluency, collocations are crucial to sounding natural, smooth and competent. Understanding how words work together adds meaning that cannot be gained in any other way and is essential for beginner-level students who wish to progress to the next level. The Macmillan Collocations Dictionary is an excellent book to help students develop their language skills in this way. The introduction describes how the dictionary can aid students in their IELTS study, but it is useful for those not taking this test as well. In particular, I think this book can really support writers looking to improve their academic or professional writing skills. I’m even considering making this a required text for my university academic writing course because it’s so easy to use.

Its main strength is the colouring and layout, which are simple and clear, meaning that it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it. The basic colouring includes headwords in red, simple definitions in black type and examples in italics. Multiple definitions are clearly numbered and collocates are bolded for easy identification. Under each word, different grammatical relationships (adj +N; V + N) are marked with a dot and additional listings of the same relationship are labelled with an arrow. Since the collocates are bolded, they visually leap off the page in a way that helps the busy writer efficiently identify the appropriate words to use. There are also occasional grey-and-red boxes that explain elements of usage in further detail and provide examples.
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The workbook is broken into 40 groups of vocabulary words which all come from the novel. Each word is accompanied with the corresponding page number in the novel so students can read the relevant section and see the word in context and can then go on to complete vocabulary exercises. The good thing about Brian’s approach is that students are not overloaded with words as there are only eight words in each group. This makes it easier to concentrate and learn the words and
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Authors: John Morgan and Mario Rinvolucri
Components: Book for teachers
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary: Provides a wide range of fun, effective classroom activities for learning vocabulary that range in level from beginner to advanced.

Review:
Vocabulary aims to provide teachers with a wide range of activities not typically found in other vocabulary books, including activities that are so fun that they would be enjoyable if the student were to do them in their native language.  It also tries to account for learner differences by using
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Components: Self-Study Book
Authors: Felicity O’Dell and Michael McCarthy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary: Well worth the trouble for students preparing for high-level examinations and teachers of advanced students (especially in one-to-one classes).

Review:

As I first flipped through English Collocations in Use – Advanced, I was reminded of my humble beginnings in TEFL.  Freshly certified, unsure how to handle the slate of private one-on-ones I was faced with, and with little material on hand to use, I often turned to one of the few books I had at my disposal at the time- my roommate’s copy of the classic English Grammar in Use.

Yes, “Murphy’s”, a book which launched a long, successful series of …In Use books (English Vocabulary in Use, English Idioms in Use, etc.), of which English Collocations in Use: Advanced is the latest installment.  As such, this last title follows the common format established early on: on the even-numbered pages, a presentation or explanation of the language in question, and on the odd-numbered pages
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