CLER Conversation Series: Exploring the nature of vocabulary in academic spoken English

Presenter : Dr. Yen Dang

Lecturer in Language Education

Understanding academic spoken English such as lectures, seminars, lab sessions, and tutorials is an important but challenging task for many second language (L2) learners. Vocabulary knowledge plays a significant role in enhancing comprehension. However, little is known about the nature of vocabulary in academic spoken English. In this seminar, I will discuss the findings of several studies of mine, which are among the very few attempts to address this research gap. The talk will focus on :
(a) the number of words needed to comprehend academic spoken English,
(b) EAP learners’ knowledge of these words,
(c) the extent to which academic written word lists cover the vocabulary in academic spoken English, and
(d) the core vocabulary in academic spoken English. The findings of these studies might be of interest to EAP practitioners and re-searchers who are interested in academic vocabulary.

Discussants:
Diana Mazgutova & Qiuyun Lu

CLER Conversation 17 July  Poster