Academic Vocabulary : Putting Words in Academic Texts in Perspective

Abstract

Toetse van woordeskatgrootte onder studente wat deur middel van 'n tweede taal studeer, het aangedui dat hulle gewoonlik nie beskik oor die basiese, akademiese en gevorderde woordeskatte wat deur hulle voorgeskrewe leesstof vereis word nie. Dit is uit hierdie bevindings duidelik dat sulke studente nie leksikaal in staat daartoe is nie om stukke eksposisionele teks behoorlik te verstaan nie. In hierdie artikel konsentreer ek op die aard van die semantiese netwerke wat samehangendheid in stukke akademiese teks onderlê ek bespreek die leksikale probleme waarmee tweedetaalstudente op voorgraadse vlak te doen het, en ek ondersoek die pedagogiese implikasies van 'n onvoldoende akademiese woordeskat. In hierdie bespreking val kwessies soos die volgende onder die soeklig: in hoeverre woordeskat die akademiese prestasie van tweedetaalstudente beïnvloed, die feit dat studente akademiese tekste met goeie begrip moet kan lees, en wat tersiêre inrigtings behoort te doen om hierdie probleme aan te pak.

Tests of vocabulary size among students studying through a second language have shown that they usually do not have the overall grasp of basic, academic and advanced vocabularies to meet the lexical demands of their prescribed reading material. It is evident from these findings that the students do not have the lexical resources required to adequately interpret stretches of expository text. In this article, I focus on the nature of the semantic networks which underlie connectedness in samples of academic text; consider the lexical problems which second-language students face at undergraduate level; and examine the pedagogical implications of an inadequate academic vocabulary. In the course of this discussion, I consider issues such as the degree to which vocabulary affects the academic performance of second-language students, the need for students to read academic texts with understanding, and what tertiary institutions should be doing to address these problems.