LESSON 2.
PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC TERMINOLOGY
Module:
Vocabulary
Topic:
Professional and academic terminology (e.g. language acquisition,
hypothesis, etc)
Time:
80 minutes
Aims
Materials
Aids
to analyse professional and academic terminology;
to develop practical understanding of key terms
1. Lewis, M (1997). Implementing the Lexical Approach. Hove: LTP.
2. McCarthy, M. and O‘Dell, F (2004). English Vocabulary in Use. Upper-
intermediate and advanced. Cambridge: CUP
Text-books. charts, laptop with speakers, handouts
Lead-in (5 min.): Teacher asks the questions:
1. Where do we use English?
2. What English professional words do you know?
3. What types of professional words are there in English?
Hangout 1. Professional English
Most professions have specialized vocabularies. People who work in those professions
know, understand, and use terms that may not be used by the general population. Additionally,
words that may have a certain meaning in one context may have a different meaning when used by
members of a certain profession. For example, members of the medical profession and members
of the construction or building profession both talk about "joints." However, we know they are not
talking about the same kind of joint! When we talk about texts, both literary and non-literary, the
English profession (and for that matter most well educated people) use a specific vocabulary to
discuss what they have seen or read.
Academic terminology can be difficult to define. One broad definition is the vocabulary
which can be used in academic contexts. The problem here though is what do we mean by
'academic contexts'? Does this mean spoken contexts (e.g. lectures, seminars, presentations),
written contexts (e.g. essays, articles, reports), or both? Writers on academic vocabulary tend to
focus on the latter, and often overlook the former. It also depends on what subject we are talking
about. The academic terminology or vocabulary necessary for writing a science laboratory report
(e.g. apparatus, procedure, errors) has some differences from the academic vocabulary which
might be used in social science research (e.g. survey, population, sample), though of course they
would also have much in common. In general, academic vocabulary can be considered to consist
of three types of vocabulary:
general words which are acceptable for academic use;
non-general 'academic' words ;
technical words specific to an individual subject area.
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