Cover not available

Article published In: ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 174:1 (2023) ► pp.83–111

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Evaluating multiword unit word lists for academic purposes

ORCiD logo with link | Danang University of Foreign Language Studies
 | Victoria University of Wellington
Published online: 11 July 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.21041.ngu
Abstract
Word lists play a critical role in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teaching and learning, and recent developments include lists of academic collocations (e.g., vast majority, ultimate goal). There is however still a gap in evaluating lists focusing on a similar group of lexis. This paper evaluates two lists of academic collocations by Ackermann, K., & Chen, Y.-H. (2013). Developing the Academic Collocation List (ACL) – A corpus-driven and expert-judged approach. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(4), 235–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar and Lei, L., & Liu, D. (2018). The academic English collocation list. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 23(2), 216–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar using three different methods: applying an evaluation framework adapted from (2016). Making and using word lists for language learning and testing. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, comparing the lexical constituents, and analysing the lexical coverage. The evaluation results give implications for EAP teachers to select the list that best suits their needs. By modelling the practice of evaluating word lists, this study highlights the importance of this work and encourages similar attempts in wordlist development studies.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Published lists of academic collocations and evaluation practice
    • Word lists of academic collocations
    • Evaluating word lists
    • Research questions
  • Methodology
    • The word lists
    • The independent corpora
    • Procedure
  • Findings and discussion
    • Applying Nation’s (2016) adapted framework to the ACL and the AECL
      • A.Target audience
      • B.Purpose
      • C.Number of items
      • D.Unit of counting
      • E.Corpora
      • F.Word selection principles
      • G.Manual checking
      • H.Ordering items
      • I.Validation
      • J.Self-criticism
      • K.Availability
    • Lexical constituent overlap between the ACL and the AECL
    • Coverage of the ACL and the AECL over the COCA Academic and Fiction corpora
    • Coverage of the ACL and the AECL’s most frequent lexical academic collocations over the COCA Academic
  • Pedagogical and research implications
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
References (49)
References
Ackermann, K., & Chen, Y.-H. (2013). Developing the Academic Collocation List (ACL) – A corpus-driven and expert-judged approach. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12(4), 235–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Altenberg, B., & Granger, S. (2001). The grammatical and lexical patterning of MAKE in native and non-native student writing. Applied Linguistics, 22(2), 173–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Anthony, L. (2019). AntConc (3.5.8) [Computer software]. Waseda University. [URL]
Biber, D., & Barbieri, F. (2007). Lexical bundles in university spoken and written registers. English for Specific Purposes, 26(3), 263–286. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Cortes, V. (2004). If you look at: Lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks. Applied Linguistics, 25(3), 371–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brysbaert, M., & New, B. (2009). Moving beyond Kučera and Francis: A critical evaluation of current word frequency norms and the introduction of a new and improved word frequency measure for American English. Behavior Research Methods, 41(4), 977–990. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chon, Y., & Shin, D. (2013). A corpus-driven analysis of spoken and written academic collocations. Multimedia-Assisted Language Learning, 16(3), 11–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–238. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Vocabulary and English for specific purposes research: Quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Academic vocabulary. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 97–110). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coxhead, A., & Dang, T. N. Y. (2019). Vocabulary in university tutorials and laboratories: Corpora and word lists. In K. Hyland & L. L. C. Wong (Eds.), Specialised English: New directions in ESP and EAP research and practice. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coxhead, A., Dang, T. N. Y., & Mukai, S. (2017). Single and multi-word unit vocabulary in university tutorials and laboratories: Evidence from corpora and textbooks. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 301, 66–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dang, T. N. Y., & Webb, S. (2016). Evaluating lists of high-frequency words. ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 167(2), 132–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, M. (2008–2017). The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 560 million words, 1990–2017. [URL]
Durrant, P. (2009). Investigating the viability of a collocation list for students of English for academic purposes. English for Specific Purposes, 28(3), 157–169. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Erten, I. H., & Tekin, M. (2008). Effects on vocabulary acquisition of presenting new words in semantic sets versus semantically unrelated sets. System, 361, 407–422. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardner, D. (2007). Validating the construct of “word” in applied corpus-based vocabulary research: A critical survey. Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 241–265. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2014). A new academic vocabulary list. Applied Linguistics, 35(3), 305–327. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hartshorn, J., & Hart, J. (2016). Comparing the Academic Word List with the Academic Vocabulary List: Analyses of frequency and performance of English language learners. The Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 70–87.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hill, J., & Lewis, M. (1997). LTP dictionary of selected collocations. Language Teaching Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hinkel, E. (Ed.). (2018). Teaching essential units of language: Beyond single-word vocabulary. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2008). Academic clusters: Text patterning in published and postgraduate writing. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 41–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lei, L., & Liu, D. (2018). The academic English collocation list. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 23(2), 216–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, J., & Schmitt, N. (2010). The development of collocation use in academic texts by advanced L2 learners: A multiple case study approach. In Perspectives on formulaic language: Acquisition and communication (pp. 22–46). Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Miller, J. (2020). The bottom line: Are idioms used in English academic speech and writing? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 431. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Learning vocabulary in lexical sets: Dangers and guidelines. TESOL Journal, 9(2), 6–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). A study of the most frequent word families in the British National Corpus. In P. Bogaards & B. Laufer (Eds.), Vocabulary in a second language: Selection, acquisition, and testing (pp. 3–14). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
(2013). Learning vocabulary in another language (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., Shin, D., & Grant, L. (2016). Multiword units. In Making and using word lists for language learning and testing (pp. 71–79). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., & Sorell, J. (2016). Corpus selection and design. In Making and using word lists for language learning and testing (pp. 95–105). John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., & Waring, R. (1997). Vocabulary size, text coverage and word lists. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 6–19). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, I. S. P., & Webb, S. A. (2011). Researching and analyzing vocabulary. Heinle, Cengage Learning.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nesi, H., & Gardner, S. (2012). Genres across the disciplines: Student writing in higher education. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nesselhauf, N. (2005). Collocations in a learner corpus. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nguyen, T. M. H., & Webb, S. (2017). Examining second language receptive knowledge of collocation and factors that affect learning. Language Teaching Research, 21(3), 298–320. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oliveros, J. C. (2015). Venny. An interactive tool for comparing lists with Venn’s diagrams (2.1.0) [Computer software]. [URL]
Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shin, D., & Nation, I. S. P. (2008). Beyond single words: The most frequent collocations in spoken English. ELT Journal, 62(4), 339–348. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson-Vlach, R., & Ellis, N. C. (2010). An Academic Formulas List: New methods in phraseology research. Applied Linguistics, 31(4), 487–512. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sinclair, J. (1991). Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Siyanova-Chanturia, A., & Pellicer-Sánchez, A. (Eds.). (2019). Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sorell, C. J. (2013). A study of issues and techniques for creating core vocabulary lists for English as an international language [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Victoria University of Wellington.
Thompson, P., & Nesi, H. (2001). The British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus project. Language Teaching Research, 5(3), 263–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vilkaitė-Lozdiene, L., & Schmitt, N. (2019). Frequency as a guide for vocabulary usefulness. In S. Webb (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of vocabulary studies (pp. 81–96). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wulff, S. (2019). Acquisition of formulaic language from a usage-based perspective. In A. Siyanova-Chanturia & A. Pellicer-Sanchez (Eds.), Understanding formulaic language: A second language acquisition perspective (pp. 19–37). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zipf, G. K. (1949). Human behavior and the principle of least effort: An introduction to human ecology. Ravenio Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Coxhead, Averil
2025. Vocabulary and English for Specific Purposes. In The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes, ► pp. 107 ff. DOI logo
Guzzi, Eleonora
2025. The Spanish Academic Collocation List. Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas Aplicadas 20 ► pp. 32 ff. DOI logo
Nguyen, Thi My Hang, Peter Gu & Averil Coxhead
2024. Argument-based validation of Academic Collocation Tests. Language Testing 41:3 ► pp. 459 ff. DOI logo
Szudarski, Paweł
2023. Collocations, Corpora and Language Learning, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue