Anybody using the AWL word list ?
 

Good morning to you all,

-Does anyone out there use the AWL in their lessons?

-How do you teach it?
-Do you have a dedicated Vocab lesson or do you just try to bring an awareness of the list/words during your lessons.

We have found that our students are not properly prepared for what is expected of them academically after they have completed foundation(which is where I teach). Their level of English isn ´t very high in our college.They enter on an IELTS band of +- 1.5 /2 and exit on about 3 / 3.5 (i.e from foundation ) which isn ´t great, but it ´s the best we can do .Their attitude towards foundation is that it is ´fundation ´ and they only wake up when it ´s almost too late in the academic year. There are various reasons why it is the way it is, but too many to bore you with for now and it isn ´t really pertinent to my question...s . ;o)

I think by introducing and using the AWL will bridge the gap in all genres and I would like to introduce it in my study skills class and then get the weeks words recycled in all their other lessons [...a tad ambitious, but possible] and would like to get some suggestions from some of you on how you present it, integrate it into the syllabus , how to ensure retention and ensure it is recycled and how to assess it ?

I know I ´m asking a lot , but we are busy brainstorming how to turn the general attitude of the students around and how to change the syllabi ´s to prepare them better for their Diploma and Bachelors courses and so I thought that I would bounce it off you to to get a wider field of expert knowledge into our ´think-tank ´.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing some suggestions
Have an awesome day!!
Rgds
Andrea

Re: Anybody using the AWL word list ?
 

Hello,

I don't use the AWL list, but I do use other word lists and also readability statistics when I design class materials. I basically try to work in as many of the words as possible into the speaking and reading activities, making sure to review them later on. In writing tasks, you could also mark them on the depth of their vocabulary. Again, you could analyse their texts using readability tools (as long as you have a digital copy).

For something kind of related, you might like this quiz I developed for the Barron's Word List (GRE exam): GRE Master