Is academic vocabulary important in IELTS

You need a lot of vocabulary if you want to get a High Band Score in the IELTS exam, this means a good level of vocabulary you can use in all sections of the test.

Ways to learn useful academic vocabulary for IELTS

If you are still learning vocabulary, it’s a sensible idea to prioritise what kind of vocabulary you spend your time learning.

Common vocabulary for IELTS can be found in any section of the IELTS test. This is the vocabulary that makes up the 2000 words you need to understand most frequent situations in English.

Most textbooks focus their vocabulary on particular topics which come up frequently in the IELTS exam, such as the environment, health, society and family, the media, medicine, technology or education for example.

These are good ways to build topic specific IELTS vocabulary and is a very useful way of organising vocabulary; however, this should definitely be combined with studying something else.

The Academic Word List for IELTS (AWL) for IELTS

This is really useful if you already have a good command of English or you are a native speaker as it indicates the kind of language you would expect in academic writing and an academic IELTS essay. It could be regarded as essential, high-level IELTS vocabulary.

What Is the Academic Word List

The Academic Word List are words taken from an analysed database of academic English.

The academic word list used in this IELTS list is a collection the 570 words which most frequently appear in academic English across a wide range of academic fields and subjects.

Why use an academic word list in IELTS preparation.

So, if you were to select an IELTS reading text and compare it against the Academic Word List, you could find that words which appear in the AWL could be found in almost any sentence.

In fact, learning the 570 words on the list, plus a 2,000-word basic vocabulary would mean you have a far better chance of understanding at least 90% of any academic text, and therefore the majority of IELTS reading and listening texts.

‘Research has shown that the AWL covers 10% of words in academic texts; if you are familiar with words in the GSL (which covers around 80% of words in texts), you would have knowledge of approximately 90% of words in academic texts. ‘   https://www.eapfoundation.com/vocab/academic/awllists/ Accessed 18/10/2020

What to do about unknown words in IELTS

Of course, there will always be words that are unfamiliar or completely unknown and words that are so specialised it would be pointless to learn them.

Back to those 570 words.

570 may sound like a larger number and may seem like a lot of new vocabulary but you might be surprised how many words you already know from the academic word list.

You can find the list at the bottom of this page.

A good way to record this vocabulary, or indeed any vocabulary that you find through reading or listening, is to use the Cornell Note Taking method.

Further Resources

Here are a few websites which you might find useful to help you learn and practise the list:

Academic Word List Finder

Use this resource to gamify the leaning of vocabulary from the Academic Word List

Academic Word List Practice and Games

Use this to check the pronunciation and find related word forms and collocations

To sum up

In order to do well in the Academic Test, it’s important to have a good understanding of academic words which will add to your writing and also help you in reading and listening.

Don’t learn them by heart, but be aware of relationships and groups to help deal with understanding ideas and producing better written responses.

Academic Word List 1

Analysis – analyse, analysed, analyser, analysers, analyses, analysing, analyst, analysts, analytic, analytical, analytically

Approach – approachable, approached, approaches, approaching, unapproachable

Area – areas

Assessment – assess, assessable, assessed, assesses, assessing, assessments, reassess, reassessed, reassessing, reassessment, unassessed

Assume – assumed, assumes, assuming, assumption, assumptions

Authority – authoritative, authorities

Available – availability, unavailable

Benefit – beneficial, beneficiary, beneficiaries, benefited, benefiting, benefits

Concept – conception, concepts, conceptual, conceptualisation, conceptualise, conceptualised, conceptualises, conceptualising, conceptually

Consistent – consist, consisted, consistency, consistently, consisting, consists, inconsistencies, inconsistency, inconsistent

Constitutional – constituencies, constituency, constituent, constituents, constitute, constituted, constitutes, constituting, constitution, constitutions, constitutionally, constitutive, unconstitutional

Context – contexts, contextual, contextualise, contextualised, contextualising decontextualised,

Contract – contracted, contracting, contractor, contractors, contracts

Create – created, creates, creating, creation, creations, creative, creatively, creativity, creator, creators, recreate, recreated, recreates, recreating

Data – data

Definition – definable, define, defined, defines, defining, definitions, redefine, redefined, redefines, redefining, undefined

Derived – derivation, derivations, derivative, derivatives, derive, derives, deriving

Distribution – distribute, distributed, distributing, distributional, distributions, distributive, distributor, distributors, redistribute, redistributed, redistributes, redistributing, redistribution

Economic – economical, economically, economics, economies, economist, economists, economy, uneconomical

Environment – environmental, environmentalist, environmentalists, environmentally, environments

Established – disestablish, disestablished, disestablishes, disestablishing, disestablishment, establish, establishes, establishing, establishment, establishments

Estimate – estimated, estimates, estimating, estimation, estimations, over-estimate, overestimate, overestimated, overestimates, overestimating, underestimate, underestimated, underestimates, underestimating

Evidence – evidenced, evident, evidential, evidently

Export – exported, exporter, exporters, exporting, exports

Factors – factor, factored, factoring

Financial – finance, financed, finances, financially, financier, financiers, financing

Formula – formulae, formulas, formulate, formulated, formulating, formulation, formulations, reformulate, reformulated, reformulating, reformulation, reformulations

Function – functional, functionally, functioned, functioning, functions

Identified – identifiable, identification, identifies, identify, identifying, identities, identity, unidentifiable

Income – incomes

Indicate – indicated, indicates, indicating, indication, indications, indicative, indicator, indicators

Individual – individualised, individuality, individualism, individualist, individualists, individualistic, individually, individuals

Interpretation – interpret, interpretations, interpretative, interpreted, interpreting, interpretive, interprets misinterpret, misinterpretation, misinterpretations, misinterpreted, misinterpreting, misinterprets,

Involved – involve, involvement, involves, involving, uninvolved

Issues – issue, issued, issuing

Labour – laboured, labouring, labours

Legal – illegal, illegality, illegally, legality, legally

Legislation – legislate, legislated, legislates, legislating, legislative, legislator, legislators, legislature

Major – majorities, majority

Method – methodical, methodological, methodologies, methodology, methods

Occur – occurred, occurrence, occurrences, occurring, occurs reoccur, reoccurred, reoccurring, reoccurs

Percent – per cent, percentage, percentages

Period – periodic, periodical, periodically, periodicals, periods

Policy – policies

Principle – principled, principles, unprincipled

Procedure – procedural, procedures, proceed, proceeded, proceeding, proceedings, proceeds

Process – processed, processes, processing

Required – require, requirement, requirements, requires, requiring

Research – researched, researcher, researchers, researches, researching

Response – respond, responded, respondent, respondents, responding, responds, responses, responsive, responsiveness, unresponsive

Role – roles

Section – sectioned, sectioning, sections

Sector – sectors

Significant – insignificant, insignificantly, significance, significantly, signified, signifies, signify, signifying

Similar – dissimilar, similarities, similarity, similarly

Source – sourced, sources, sourcing

Specific – specifically, specification, specifications, specificity, specifics

Structure – restructure, restructured, restructures, restructuring, structural, structurally, structured, structures, structuring, unstructured

Theory – theoretical, theoretically, theories, theorist, theorists

Variables – invariable, invariably, variability, variable, variably, variance, variant, variants, variation, variations, varied, varies, vary, varying

Academic Word List 2

Achieve – achievable, achieved, achievement, achievements, achieves, achieving

Acquisition – acquire, acquired, acquires, acquiring, acquisitions

Administration – administrate, administrates administrations, administrative, administratively, administrator, administrators

Affect – affected, affecting, affective, affectively, affects, unaffected

Appropriate – appropriacy, appropriately, appropriateness, inappropriacy, inappropriate, inappropriately

Aspect – aspects

Assistance – assist, assistant, assistants, assisted, assisting, assists, unassisted

Categories – category, categorisation, categorise, categorised, categorises, categorising, categorizing

Chapter – chapters

Cite – citations

Commission – commissioned, commissioner, commissioners, commissioning, commissions

Community – communities

Complex – complexities, complexity

Computer – compute, computation, computational, computations, computable, computed, computerised, computers, computing

Conclusion – conclude, concluded, concludes, concluding, conclusions, conclusive, conclusively inconclusive, inconclusively

Conduct – conducted, conducting, conducts

Consequences – consequent, consequence, consequently

Construction – construct, constructed, constructing, constructions, constructive, constructs reconstruct, reconstructed, reconstructing, reconstruction, reconstructs

Consumer – consume, consumed, consumers, consumes, consuming, consumption

Credit – credited, crediting, creditor, creditors, credits

Cultural – culture, culturally, cultured, cultures, uncultured

Design – designed, designer, designers, designing, designs

Distinction – distinct, distinctions, distinctive, distinctively, distinctly, indistinct, indistinctly

Elements – element

Equation – equate, equated, equates, equating, equations

Evaluation – evaluate, evaluated, evaluates, evaluating, evaluations, evaluative, re-evaluate, re-evaluated, re-evaluates, re-evaluating, re-evaluation

Features – feature, featured, featuring

Final – finalise, finalised, finalises, finalising, finality, finally, finals

Focus – focused, focuses, focusing, refocus, refocused, refocuses, refocusing

Impact – impacted, impacting, impacts

Injury – injure, injured, injures, injuries, injuring, uninjured

Institute – instituted, institutes, instituting, institution, institutional, institutionalise, institutionalised, institutionalises, institutionalising, institutionally, institutions

Investment – invest, invested, investing, investments, investor, investors, invests reinvest, reinvested, reinvesting, reinvestment, reinvests

Items – item, itemisation, itemise, itemised, itemises, itemising

Journal – journals

Maintenance – maintain, maintained, maintaining, maintains

Normal – normalisation, normalise, normalised, normalises, normalising, normality, normally abnormal, abnormally,

Obtained – obtain, obtainable, obtaining, obtains, unobtainable

Participation – participate, participant, participants, participated, participates, participating, participatory

Perceived – perceive, perceives, perceiving, perception, perceptions

Positive – positively

Potential – potentially

Previous – previously

Primary – primarily

Purchase – purchased, purchaser, purchasers, purchases, purchasing

Range – ranged, ranges, ranging

Regulations – regulate, regulated, regulates, regulating, regulation, regulator, regulators, regulatory, deregulated, deregulates, deregulating, deregulation, unregulated

Relevant – irrelevance, irrelevant, relevance

Resident – reside, resided, residence, residential, residents, resides, residing

Resources – resource, resourced, resourceful, resourcing, resourcefulness, under-resourced

Restricted – restrict, restricting, restriction, restrictions, restrictive, restrictively, restricts, unrestricted, unrestrictive

Security – secure, insecure, insecurities, insecurity, secured, securely, secures, securing, securities

Sought – seek, seeking, seeks

Select – selected, selecting, selection, selections, selective, selectively, selector, selectors, selects

Site – sites, situation, situational, situated

Survey – surveyed, surveying, surveys

Text – texts, textual

Traditional – tradition, non-traditional, traditionalist, traditionally, traditions

Transfer – transferable, transference, transferred, transferring, transfers

You can get a PDF copy of this Academic Word List for IELTS here. 

For further study, and further Academic English for university study, I always recommend the EAP Foundation website by Shelden Smith.

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