Some quick notes from February’s ⏱️ 3-Minute Paper.
The paper discussed was Roesler, D. (2021). When a bug is not a bug: An introduction to the computer science academic vocabulary list. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 54, 101044. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2021.101044
Notes on the three discussion questions following the presentation
1. Are academic vocabulary lists generally a useful tool for EAP teachers?
There seemed to be agreement that word lists in general could be a useful tool. However, most of the discussion centred around the usefulness of this specific wordlist, rather than the usefulness of word lists in general.
A distinction between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ use of a word list in teaching was highlighted. In this context a ‘hard’ or ‘series’ approach involves using the lists as a tool for students to use directly in their learning, whereas in a ‘soft’ or ‘field’ approach students focuses on identifying unknown high frequency words in their reading using highlighting and gapfill tools such as those on the EAP Foundation website.
The level of the students was also discussed as an important factor in whether word lists may be useful, with teaching contexts of participants ranging from foundation to post-graduate level.
The role of word lists which are specific to a text or set of texts was also discussed along with the possibility of creating these in combination with general word lists such as the newGSL.
2. To what extent should EAP teachers and materials developers concern themselves with subject specific vocabulary in STEM related areas?
This question provoked considerable discussion. There seemed general agreement that EAP teachers and materials developers should concern themselves with some subject specific vocabulary. However, the extent to which they should do this was debated. Key points included:
- the distinction between teaching vocabulary as a new label for existing knowledge (translation) and vocabulary grounded in new knowledge which is being acquired.
- whether vocabulary instruction should relate only to areas which were already covered by the subject specialist.
A different perspective was provided by a participant who is a subject specialist working in an EMI setting. For them, introducing new concepts through subject vocabulary was unavoidable so the a key issue was how to use word lists to prioritise vocabulary in materials.
3. In what ways can subject specific vocabulary lists be used by teachers of STEM EAP and materials developers?
Participants generally had experience of using general word lists in teaching, using both ‘series’ and ‘field’ approaches and viewed this as useful but challenging.
When using subject specific lists the consensus seemed to be to use a ‘field’ approach where students could use wordlists with their own texts. Some participants had not been aware that the eapfoundation.com website included highlighting tools for some subject specific wordlists (including CASVL) and felt this could bee a useful addition to their teaching.