Essential Academic Vocabulary by Helen Huntley (2005, Paperback)

Essential Academic Vocabulary prepares students for academic success by teaching them the Academic Word List through a comprehensive approach designed to preview, learn, and practice vocabulary in a real academic context. Within the text, the 570 words on the AWL are organized into 16 chapters, presenting students with the most frequently used words in the fields of arts, commerce, law, and science.

Each chapter follows a similar format. The targeted words first appear in chart form and are then introduced through an academic reading adapted from an up-to-date undergraduate textbook. Extensive review exercises and communicative activities for reading, writing, and speaking follow the readings to help students practice vocabulary words in a specific academic context. The complexity level of the readings and associated vocabulary increases from chapter to chapter, allowing students to establish and build upon a solid vocabulary foundation.

• Preview Questions: Images introduce the chapter theme, followed by preview questions that activate students' background knowledge.
• Reading and Vocabulary Context: An engaging, academic reading highlights the chapter vocabulary. Students then choose the best meaning of a word according to its context in the reading.
• Comprehension: A range of exercises asks students to use inferences, complete charts, and answer questions designed to assess their comprehension of the text and the vocabulary.
• Dictionary Skills: Activities based on dictionary entries for chapter vocabulary focus students on understanding and using information in the dictionary.
• Word Forms, Collocations, and Word Parts: The text introduces students to word forms, collocational phrases, and chapter-related affixes to help them identify meaning in what they read and convey meaning in what they write.
• Task-Based and Paragraph Writing Activities ask students to perform academic writing tasks and reflect on a chapter topic, while Group Speaking Activities and Role Plays require students to conduct a variety of oral tasks and interactions.