Copyright©2006ESLProSystems,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.Visitusonlineat©2006ESLProSystems,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.Visitusonlineat:-Avocabularybaseof2000commonwordsinEnglishwillonlyallowyoutocomprehendabout80%ofthewordsinanacademictext.-Avocabularybaseof3000wordswillonlyincreasethatto85%.-Althoughthereareabout54,000wordfamiliesinEnglish,comprehensionofabout3-5000isconsideredtheminimumforsuccessattheuniversitylevel.Withthisinformationinmind,thequestionofwhichwordstostudytoreachthat3-5000wordlevelisquitelegitimate.Fortunately,thereisagoodanswertothat.TheAcademicWordList(orAWL)isacompilationofcommonlyusedwordswithinanacademiccontext.TheseareprobablyveryusefulwordstolearnifyouintendtotaketheTOEFL®iBTTesttoenteraNorthAmericanuniversity.Copyright©2006ESLProSystems,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.Visitusonlineat(alsoreferredtoastheAWL),developedbyAverilCoxheadatVictoriaUniversityofWellingtoninNewZealand,consistsofvocabularythatstudentsarelikelytoencounterinmostacademicsubjects.Itconsistsofthe570mostcommonwordfamiliesinacademictexts,excludingabout2000basicEnglishwordssuchasthe,in,of,about,under,dog,cat,that,andsoon.EnglishlearnerswholearnandpracticethewordsontheAWLbeforeattendinguniversityarelikelytobeabletomasteracademicmaterialwithmoreconfidenceandspeed,wastinglesstimeandeffortinguessingthemeaningofwordsorconsultingdictionariesthanthosewhoonlyknowthebasic2,000-words,whichcharacterizeordinaryconversation.AnaddedfeatureoftheAWListhatbylearningonewordonit,thereareoftenanumberofotherfrequentlyusedformstolearnaswell.Forexample,theword'analysis'fromtheAWLhasanumberofotherformsthatareusefultoknow:analyzeanalyzinganalysisanalyzedanalyticallyanalystanalyzeranalyticalanalyticanalysesWhenlearningthesewordsyoushouldalsolearntheirpronunciation.Youneedtorecognizethemwhenyouhearthemspokenandyouneedtobeabletopronouncethemcorrectly.Insomecases,thepartofthewordorsyllablethatisstressedmightchange.Forexample:analyze(Theunderlinedlettersinboldshowthestressedsyllable)analysisMasteringthewordfamiliesontheAWLcanquicklyhelpyoureachthat3-5000wordfamilygoalneededforsuccessattheuniversitylevelinanEnglish-speakingcountry.Learningthefirst2000basicEnglishwordsandthe570wordfamiliesfromtheAWLwillallowyoutocomprehendabout90%ofthewordsencounteredinacademictext.Keepthisinmind:“If,insteadoffocusingontheAWL,astudentmovesontothethird1000mostcommoneverydayEnglishwords,insteadofanadditional10%coveragetherewouldbeonlyanextra4.3%coverageoftheessentialvocabularyneededforacademicsuccess.”-Nation,P.(2001)LearningVocabularyinAnotherLanguage.Cambridge;CambridgeUniversityPress.Clearlythen,ifyouareanESLlearnerintendingtostudyattheuniversitylevelinanEnglish-speakingcountry,theAcademicWordListisworthstudying.Copyright©2006ESLProSystems,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.Visitusonlineat(inalphabeticalorder)abandonassesscommencecontextabstractassigncommentcontractaccessassistcommissioncontradictaccommodateassumecommitcontraryaccompanyassurecommoditycontrastaccumulateattachcommunicatecontributeaccurateattaincommunitycontroversyachieveattitudecompatibleconveneacknowledgeattributecompensateconverseacquireauthorcompileconvertadaptauthoritycomplementconvinceadequateautomatecomplexcooperateadjacentavailablecomponentcoordinateadjustawarecompoundcoreadministratebehalfcomprehensivecorporateadultbenefitcomprisecorrespondadvocatebiascomputecoupleaffectbondconceivecreateaggregatebriefconcentratecreditaidbulkconceptcriteriaalbeitcapableconcludecrucialallocatecapacityconcurrentculturealtercategoryconductcurrencyalternativeceaseconfercycleambiguouschallengeconfinedataamendchannelconfirmdebateanalogychapterconflictdecadeanalyzechartconformdeclineannualchemicalconsentdeduceanticipatecircumstanceconsequentdefineapparentciteconsiderabledefiniteappendcivilconsistdemonstrateappreciateclarifyconstantdenoteapproachclassicconstitutedenyappropriateclauseconstraindepressapproximatecodeconstructderivearbitrarycoherentconsultdesignareacoincideconsumedespiteaspectcollapsecontactdetectassemblecolleaguecontemporarydeviateCopyright©2006ESLProSystems,Ltd.Allrightsreserved.Visitusonlineat