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Activating
1001 Academic Words For IELTS
AN IN-DEPTH GUIDE TO TEACHING ACADEMIC VOCABULARY FROM THE METHOD
by Keith Burgess

The Method is an intensive resource that has been formulated on the following basic vocabulary learning
principles:

z Make it simple

Isolate the meaning and lexical pattern in a

context that is linguistically simple. Refrain from
using other academic words or difficult
language.

z Rely on context

Seek the meaning from the context. Encourage

students to understand the situation to decide
on meaning rather than reduce it to other words
or look for an encapsulated meaning such as a
definition.

z Teach analysis, but encourage it only when

informed intuition fails

Initially, make students aware of the information

they need to know to be able to use the word.
But only challenge them to seek consciously
and reveal the information when they cannot
transfer the word to a new context.

z Challenge students to "think through" the language

Challenge the students to not only understand meaning from the context offered, but to
invent a new context. Ask them to produce sentences that "show" the meaning.

z Recycle

Revisit the vocabulary by asking them to confirm understanding of meaning and form via
paraphrases and word puzzles.

z Be aware that first comes the thought, and then comes the language

Ask them to put aside the language. Ask them to think of another context in which to use the
word but say )RUJHWDERXWWKHZRUGIRUDPRPHQW And ask such questions as :KHUHHOVH
FRXOGWKLVKDSSHQ":KRHOVHFRXOGLWKDSSHQWR" Then 1RZXVHWKHZRUG

z Inundate

Intermediate plus students know the basic range of language. Academic vocabulary often,
but not always, has discrete differences in meaning. So, the students need to discover
hundreds of such words. Not all of them will be remembered, since in many cases it will be
first contact. And everybody has their own range or taste for words. So, the students should
be exposed to many – hence 1001.
 z Narrow then widen exposure of meaning and form.

The students are introduced to the words through one context, then another, then another
and also there is their own context. Each of these will reveal a slightly or grossly different
aspect of meaning and probably a variety of ways of using the words too.

z Teach or reveal the most base or real meaning.

The base meaning of a word is much more vivid. By base meaning, it is meant that
academic words such as "indicate" also have a more everyday or physical use.

i.e. with "indicate"... "to point with a finger."

Similarly, the mountain is "insurmountable", or even the child can be "conceived".

In practice:

„ It informs the students how to analyse vocabulary for use.

„ It presents a sentence with words and a context that are easily understood.

„ It offers a half sentence to be completed that tests their understanding of meaning and use.

„ It invites the students to construct their own sentence from their own conceived and imagined
context.

„ It later tests their memory and ability to use the language through paraphrase.

„ It tests their ability to "think through" the language by asking them to answer a word puzzle
conversationally.

„ It offers to improve students’ knowledge and expertise through spelling, pronunciation, revision and
extension exercises.
How to Use This Resource

Activating 1001 Academic Words for IELTS is a

simple and successful teaching method and
resource which exploits the intuitive skills of
students and quickly broadens the range of
language that they can use. But the secret of its
success is not just in its simplicity and tapping of
students’ innate skills, but also in the teacher’s
ability to help his or her students to focus, keep up
the pace, and get quality work from them –
especially outside of class.

NOTE: For best use of The Method, it is advised that the teacher
follow the instructions carefully and put into practice the
many TIPS offered below.

We should first acknowledge that there are students who are more ready and willing than others. And so
there are two sets of instructions given below.

The first set of instructions is the simplest and speediest and intended for the ready and willing
students first.

The second (extended) set of instructions is for students who do not yet have this willingness and
readiness. But these qualities can be very soon developed.

By ready, I mean that they have the analytical skill to consciously or subconsciously recognize meaning
and identify the function of words and the patterns to be found in a sentence. They are even more ready if
their exposure to English has been sufficient to have given them first contact with these words.

By willing, I mean that the students are of the frame of mind to abandon translation and to hunt for
meaning in context. They are even more willing if they are enthusiastic to want to create full context for
their own practice of the words.

Of course, students can be taught or coaxed to be ready and willing, and there is much advice below to
carry this out. But for the ready and willing students, the process is indeed very simple and immediately
productive!

NOTE: Once the instructions have been explained and followed

through in the classroom using worksheets, the same
Method can be implemented using the lessons on the CD-
ROM.
 Learning the Words

FIRST STEPS

A To begin, hand out Instruction Sheet 1 (the next page) to each student and explain that together you
will work through the process of actively learning these 1001 academic words.

Say to the students "Here are the steps to using 1001."

And "Let’s try the first two words and see if we need STEP 6."

Then "Let’s practise analysing words in case we need to."

Go over the steps above with the students so that they have an overview of the system.

NOTE: STEPS 1–5 are the only necessary steps – in three

repetitions for each Superword or phrase.

Emphasise the possibility of only having to repeat STEPS 1–

5 if the students are able and focussed.

B Hand out copies of Instruction Sheets 2 & 3 only to students who need initial practice at analysis or
whose effort lessens.

NOTE: Under "Further Tips" below there are examples of completed

worksheets.
 Page 1

Class: _______________________ Date: ___________________

Name: ________________________________________________

ACTIVATING VOCABULARY
... for the 1001 Academic Words for IELTS

STEP 1. Read the Superword or phrase. Note its pronunciation. Practise saying it.

STEP 2. Read the model sentence. Read it again.

Make sure you understand the meaning of the Superword within the context of the model.
Try this without the use of a dictionary.

STEP 3. Look at Question number 1 (Q1).

Try to complete the spaces in the sentences with reference to the Superword.

STEP 4. If this is difficult (if you think you can't do it), read the model sentence again carefully,
and try again.

STEP 5. Check your answer with the suggested answer (ask your teacher or consult the CD-ROM).

STEP 6. If you still cannot do it, do this: analyse the word this way:
a. What is the meaning of the word? Use other words to give the meaning.

(Sometimes you might want to say one word but add that the word is formal
or more academic. Or that it has a stronger meaning.)
b. What kind of word is it? (A noun?... or a verb?... or an adjective?... and so on...)
c. How do you use the word?
i. What is the word's pattern?
What words go before it and what words go after it?

(You can consider its necessary or useful pattern i.e. the way it can be
commonly used with other words.)
ii. Are there any words that conveniently go with this word? (Collocations?)
iii. Now try to answer the question again.

STEP 7. Continue with Questions 2 (Q2) and 3 (Q3).

Use these seven steps with each word. Try not to do STEP 6. It takes time, and if you have become
an automatic analyst of vocabulary, it is not necessary. But you may not say "I can't use this word"
without trying STEP 6 first.

Comments:
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Signed: _________________________________ Copyright © Keith Burgess. All Rights Reserved.

 Page 2

Class: _______________________ Date: ___________________

Name: ________________________________________________

ACTIVATING VOCABULARY
... for the 1001 Academic Words for IELTS

EXTENDED INSTRUCTIONS FOR STEP 6

Examples and Practice.

STEP 6. If you still cannot complete the sentences, analyse the words this way:

Let’s study an example first.

SUPERWORD # 1 ..............the performance..........................

1. Meaning: ......................................................................

2. Kind of word: ......................................................................

3. i. Word pattern: ......................................................................

ii. Collocations: ......................................................................

1. Meaning What is the meaning of the word? Use other words to give the meaning.

(Sometimes you might want to say one word but add that the word is formal
or more academic. Or that it has a stronger meaning.)

2. Kind of word What kind of word is it? How do you use the word?

(A noun?... or a verb?... or an adjective?... and so on...)

3. i. Word pattern What is the word's pattern?

What words go before it and what words go after it?

(You can consider its necessary or useful pattern i.e. the way it can be
commonly used with other words.)

ii. Collocations Are there any words that conveniently go with this word?

Now try to answer the question again.

Comments:
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Signed: _________________________________ Copyright © Keith Burgess. All Rights Reserved.

 Page 3

Class: _______________________ Date: ___________________

Name: ________________________________________________

ACTIVATING VOCABULARY
... for the 1001 Academic Words for IELTS

EXTENDED INSTRUCTIONS FOR STEP 6

SUPERWORD # ..... ......................................................................

1. Meaning: .................................................................................................................................

2. Kind of word: .................................................................................................................................

3. i. Word pattern: .................................................................................................................................

ii. Collocations: .................................................................................................................................

SUPERWORD # ..... .................................................................................................................................

1. Meaning: .................................................................................................................................

2. Kind of word: .................................................................................................................................

3. i. Word pattern: .................................................................................................................................

ii. Collocations: .................................................................................................................................

SUPERWORD # ..... .................................................................................................................................

1. Meaning: .................................................................................................................................

2. Kind of word: .................................................................................................................................

3. i. Word pattern: .................................................................................................................................

ii. Collocations: .................................................................................................................................

Comments:
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Signed: _________________________________ Copyright © Keith Burgess. All Rights Reserved.

The Teacher's Role
Here is an outline of the teacher’s role initially. This collective method of introduction ensures that the
students have a clear understanding of how to use the resource and of the usefulness of developing
automatic analytical skills (without dictionaries).

This method also makes expectations clear regarding quality of work.

1. Read out the word and practice pronunciation of the word.

2. Read out the model sentence slowly twice.

In between, ask or remind the students to take their time to understand the meaning of our word
from its context. Pause for this.

3. Read the first half sentence, and ask a student to volunteer its completion. Encourage the
students to speak up and don't be shy.

If the sentence they volunteer is appropriate in terms of meaning and form, write it on the board. If
there are errors outside of the bounds of the word you are focusing on silently correct as you write it
up. If the sentence is not particularly semantically strong, ask the student to make it stronger or cue
for this – see below. It is advisable to ask students to copy sentences down from the board so that
they have them as further models for later work.

If or when the teacher prefers most of the work to be done outside of class and instead offers
feedback in written form, the teacher should still offer feedback on the word itself and the grammar
related to the word itself and ignore other inaccuracies.

4. Ask the students to complete the second half sentence a sentence of their own for
homework.

With the first word or two, a good idea is to complete all the work together, so that you can stress
that it takes time to think of a context and so that you make a judgment on the quality of the "one
more" sentence and give some feedback. Constantly remind students that the more thinking they
put into this work, the more likely they will want to and be able to use the words in writing and
everyday speech.

5. The following day, go over the homework together or taken in the written homework and
assess which students, if any, need to work with STEP 6 at the moment.

If the homework is gone over in class, ask students to speak up to ensure everyone benefits. Ask
for two or three "own sentences" and congratulate students on strong sentences. Tell, or remind
students that exercises challenging their understanding and ability to use the vocabulary are
coming.

Learning To Analyse
Introducing the resource especially for students who are not yet so ready or willing.

Occasional problem areas:

All students who are at a genuine Intermediate level will very soon cope and ultimately thrive with the
system above and without STEP 6. However, certain students may have to be coaxed into the system and
into not needing STEP 6 and might say "I don’t know" or offer the completion of half sentences which are
wildly astray.
Typically this minority of students:

z are in the habit of relying on first language translation or

z take their time to enter a context and,

z in fact, refer to get information of the word from the knowledge they already have rather than from
the context before them and/or

z has not developed the skill of making contact with each word in the context to be able to
investigate the use.

Before turning to the method of analysis below, it is helpful to these students to say such things as:

(In order for students to grasp meaning.)

"Please read the model sentence once again (so that we don't have to analyse the word)."

"The meaning does not come from your knowledge of the word or from your memory or from
the dictionary. It comes from this sentence – our model sentence. Read it once more."

(In order for students to attend to word patterns.)

"Look at the words before and after the new vocabulary. Tell me what you see. I'll write it on
the board."

In essence the teacher should be making students aware of the utility but not the absolute necessity of
conscious analysis of vocabulary for use.

Teachers may do the analysis exercise with students and use it as a backup when students flounder over
meaning or use because occasionally the students may f ind certain lexical items difficult, or t hey may
simply stop observing, or they may confuse a word with another one they know.

Also, as mentioned above, students can be reluctant to use their eyes or trust their own judgment.
Students will pluck meaning from previous experience and word patterns from memory. But that is not
their task. Ask them to look. They are just getting the meaning from the given context. Likewise, although
there may be numerous other patterns, they are just searching for the patterns and collocations that are
offered in the model sentence.

Remember to use the format below when insisting that students try analysis:

SUPERWORD # .... ........................................................................................................

1. Meaning ........................................................................................................

2. Kind of Word ........................................................................................................

3. i. Word Pattern ........................................................................................................

ii. Collocations ........................................................................................................

Further Tips

Learning to analyse.

To keep up the pace to cover the 1001 words and to internalize the vocabulary more effectively, ask for
analysis only as a backup or initially for the first two or three words to acquaint students with what analysis
requires and then allow analysis to become automatic i.e. after sufficient cueing they should be able to
complete and compose sentences accurately both in terms of meaning and form.

As we have al ready demonstrated, we can break down t he information we (teacher and student) need to
do the following:

SUPERWORD # .... ....................................................

1. Meaning The word's meaning.

(In more than one word, since one word never "equals" another.)

2. Kind of Word The type of word it is.

3. i. Word Pattern The pattern of the word.

ii. Collocations The word's collocation(s).

(In other words, the grammatical structure of the word and the
other words that go with it always or often.

We can also divide grammatical structures into "necessary patterns"

and "useful patterns")

Let us now demonstrate an analysis in full with the first word of Activating 1001 Academic Words for
IELTS.

the performance
First, practise the pronunciation with the students.

Next, read out the model sentence:

meaning in context

If athletes train every day, we expect that the performance of the athletes will
improve.

Read the sentence clearly, twice.

 1. MEANING

Ask: "What kind of meaning does performance have?"

"What kind of meaning" because it invites a general description of meaning and not an exact definition –
which is usually impossible for the student (and teacher) to provide spontaneously.

Accept any meaning which is pert inent. The t eacher could place meanings that, in his or her judgment,
are more correct on the left side of the board, and less relevant references on the right, like this:

doing action work show do (in this case "running")

Now ask the students to write this information down on their worksheet as follows:

SUPERWORD # 1 the performance

1. Meaning doing action work show do (in this case "running")

2. Kind of Word ........................................................................................................

3. i. Word Pattern ........................................................................................................

ii. Collocations ........................................................................................................

2. KIND OF WORD

Next ask the students to decide on what kind of word it is.

Cue the students by asking them initially "What kind of word is it? Is it a noun, or an adjective, or a verb, or
something else? What is it?

NOTE: If students do not have awareness of function or do not have

the meta-language to describe it, teachers may have to go
back to basics and practise parsing sentences first.

Again ask the students to write this description on their worksheet:

For performance this is a noun.

SUPERWORD # 1 the performance

1. Meaning doing action work show do (in this case "running")

2. Kind of Word noun

 3. i. WORD PATTERN

Now we turn to word pattern.

Tell the student that when we analyse for word patterns we are look ing for useful information about how
to use the word. We are essentially looking at what goes "before" a word and "after" a word.

NOTE: Later the teacher might want to introduce the notions of

necessary pattern and useful pattern.

A student can analyse for either:

a) the pattern the vocabulary absolutely has to have

and

b) a pattern which is noticeable and useful.

An example of a necessary pattern is with the word

"require" i.e "require" something; never just "require".

An example of a useful pattern is with "a correlation", which

could be observed to have the pattern of "There (be) a
correlation between something and something.

The teacher might want to draw this on the board:

____________________ performance ______________________

Ask: "What can go before performance?"

Here the student might seem confused, so alternatively the teacher could give the entire answer to this
question as an example.

The answer to this question of what can go bef ore performance is "someone’s" or the possessive
pronoun.

Likewise ask "What goes after performance perhaps?"

The answer could be "... a verb such as improve."

Ask the students to write this on their worksheet:

SUPERWORD # 1 the performance

1. Meaning doing action work show do (in this case "running")

2. Kind of Word noun

3. i. Word Pattern someone's performance my performance their performance improved

 3. ii. COLLOCATION

Finally, we introduce the idea of collocation to the students.

Tell them that words quite often "go comfortably" with other words.

For example, an athlete’s performance can "improve". This is a collocation. Throughout the resource, for
each Superword teachers should invite students to observe and suggest collocations. They could be well
recognized collocations such as "achieve an aim, or dream, or target", or less recognized ones such as
those in the example below.

Ask the students if "improve" is a collocation, what might another one be? Perhaps the opposite of
"improve". The students might suggest "get worse" or "worsen" or even "be terrible."

Accept anything that you think would make an acceptable sentence for you.

Ask the students to complete their worksheet:

Final Analysis

SUPERWORD # 1 the performance

1. Meaning doing action work show do (in this case "running")

2. Kind of Word noun

3. i. Word Pattern someone's performance my performance their performance improved

ii. Collocations performances improve, get worse, worsen, are terrible

Post Analysis

Now, with either the printout of Lesson 1 or Lesson 1 on the screen before the students, invite them to
look at Question 1 (Q1.) – the first half complete sentence.

Say: "Can you use performance to complete this sentence?"

Accept and reward any possible and especially imaginative completions e.g. "... their performance will
improve."

Ask for and cue for extra information, if it seems logical or necessary to do so e.g. "Yes, their
performance will improve, and so...?" The student, with a little thinking, might offer "... and so they will
pass their exams easily" or "... and so they will become the top students in their school."
Accept any language inaccuracies that do not impede understanding. Or if you are writing it on the board,
make it a better sentence grammatically without comment e.g. The student might say "... and so they will
pass their exams easy." Accept but silently correct it. The attention should be on t he meaning, form and
function of the main word – here, performance.

Ask the students now, to work i n pairs to complete the next one. Judge their offers after a couple of
minutes in the same way.

Challenge them now to make their own sentences in their own contexts. Cue them the first few times.

For example, say: "In the first situation, he is an athlete. He's playing sport. The second situation is at
school. Performance at school. Performance in sport. The third situation is where? Yes, at work."

"Where is another situation? In sport? At school? At work? Where is another place? The student might
suggest the cinema. Yes, whose performance? An actor. Yes, good. Now make another sentence together
using "performance". Try to make it an interesting sentence."

Invite the student to explain the sentence fully with another sentence. e.g. if the word is "virtually" and he
or she comes up with the sentence "My bank account is virtually empty.", ask: "What do you mean virtually
empty? Give me another sentence. What do you mean "virtually empty?" The student should say
something like "It only had one dollar in it." And you say, "Yes, now I understand." Challenge the student
to produce sentences that show the meaning.

In the best circumstances, if you have a bright group who are keen, enthusiastic and imaginative, you will
get sentences like: "My friend and I both thought that the performances of the actresses in the movies
were better than the actors'."

Reward the students. Excellent. But even challenge for more information. "In what way better?" "You
could believe their characters. Good, say it again." A big loud voice so that everyone can hear. (Establish
this "confident, big loud voice" behaviour early so that future lessons go smoothly and at a brisk pace.)

For the remaining words, ask the students to compl ete the second sentences at home, as well as the
Question 3 (Q3.) "One more..." sentences. When you are checking the next day, ask for one or two
examples of the completed sentences and two or three of their own sentences. Collect them to mark.

Finally, draw the students' attention to the other variations of the word offered alongside the Superword.
Very motivated and gifted students may benefit from these hints.

NOTE: This deeper analysis is for the first few words at the most.
For other words encourage students to leap from the model
sentence to the first half sentence. If they can do this, there
is no need to analyse.

The student should be able to complete the Question 1 (Q1.)

half sentences now with appropriate meaning and grammar
(around the word itself) for you the teacher to check before
going onto the second Question 2 (Q2.) half sentences and
the final Question 3 (Q3.) creative sentence of their own.

The teacher should remember that we want analysis to be a backup, although it is always valuable
to seek out "collocations" and "word patterns" from time to time to remind students of analysis.
Further Examples

Take another word and model sentence and analyse it similarly. For example:

meanwhile
meaning in context

The neighbours of the sick women made sure she had enough food in the house and
did messages for her. Meanwhile, her own family went on holiday and did not even
send her a letter.

Final Analysis

SUPERWORD # 2 meanwhile

1. Meaning but at the same time (it is quite surprising!)

2. Kind of Word adverb

3. i. Word Pattern Meanwhile (beginning of the sentence) + comma...

ii. Collocations (no particular collocations for this word)

Another example:

conclude
meaning in context

Because fewer accidents are being caused by drink driving these days, I think you
can conclude that the strict laws against drink driving are working.

Final Analysis

SUPERWORD # 7 conclude

1. Meaning decide finally decide logically know, therefore

2. Kind of Word verb

3. i. Word Pattern somebody (especially "you " or "one") conclude that + a sentence

ii. Collocations One can conclude that...

Further Practice

Try the analysis yourself with these other words from the resource:

a correlation
meaning in context

I believe there is a correlation between the government introducing lighter

punishments for minor crimes and the increase in minor crimes recently.

Final Analysis

SUPERWORD # 6 ........................................................................................................

1. Meaning ........................................................................................................

2. Kind of Word ........................................................................................................

3. i. Word Pattern ........................................................................................................

ii. Collocations ........................................................................................................

identical
meaning in context

A crime can be solved quite easily if a criminal used methods that were identical to
his methods in previous crimes.

Final Analysis

SUPERWORD # 13 ........................................................................................................

1. Meaning ........................................................................................................

2. Kind of Word ........................................................................................................

3. i. Word Pattern ........................................................................................................

ii. Collocations ........................................................................................................

 Paraphrasing sentences

When a set of forty words and phrases of a lesson has been completed, the teacher can turn to Part 2 –
the paraphrases.

Here the student is invited to test or confirm his or her understanding of the Superwords and their use by
rewriting sentences to include those words. It is wise for each set to do at least one together as a class.
Ask the students to look back at the model sentences again, or at the sentence that best explains its
meaning and use. Give them time to absorb and become familiar again with the word. Then invite a
student to perform the paraphrase.

Genuine Intermediate level students tend to get this right most of the time with practice, although some
students may be content to inject the word into the sentence with little or no attempt to rephrase it and
make it work in English. And others may for a time omit grammatical words such as "to" or leave part of
the meaning still in the paraphrase.

NOTE: In the CD-ROM students can click on the word for a

suggested answer.

Should the teacher wish to exclude this possibility, use the

printout versions of the PART 2 paraphrase pages.

Some examples of student responses:

2. Teenage crime increased last year. Adult crime, however, remained the same last year.
(meanwhile)

Teenage crime increased last year. Adult crime, however, remained the same last year
.

Correction: here "last year" is not necessary.

23. The sudden cold weather gave everybody the idea that they should buy winter clothes and they
did. (prompt to)

The sudden cold weather prompted everybody buy winter clothes

.

Correction: the preposition "to" has been omitted.

 27. There are more than just a few reasons for the decline in the birth rate, but the main one is that
women spend more time preparing for careers. (several)

There are more than just a few several reasons for the decline in the birth rate but the
main one is that women spend more time preparing for careers
.

Correction: the word "several" has merely been injected into the sentence.

NOTE: Important words of advice for teachers to give students are:

1. "You are making a new sentence; not putting the word

into the sentence."
2. "Find the meaning of the word in the sentence first."
e.g. In the case of meanwhile it means "however" plus
"last year". In the case of "prompt" it means "gave
(everybody) the idea".
and...
3. "Check again. What is the pattern of the word? How in
fact do you use it?"

Ask students to do one paraph rase each or at least do the first five each time to reinforce the nature of
paraphrase work.

Again, get students to do most of this work at home. If teachers ask for or insist on quality work, they will
probably get it. The teacher can write the sentences on the board as they are spoken by the students.

Make sure the rhythm is kept up in class with students speaking consistently in loud voices for everyone,
including the teacher, to hear.
 Speaking the Words

The Part 3 Word Puzzles are an opportunity for students to practise fluency and have some fun with the
language as well. And, of course, they are another means to "think through" the language.

Indeed, the teacher may choose to make this a regular class activity, and encourage debate and
discussion with this speaking opportunity, although the questions are designed for the most part to be
crisply answered and for the word itself to be used each time in the answer.

NOTE: An alternative use of the Word Puzzles is to continue to

make them a part of the written assignment, which will save
classroom time.

If used as a classroom activity, ask the students to prepare the Word Puzzles by writing their answers in
note form for homework. This works best when students are asked to prepare well and do so. So again
quality work by students should be insisted upon and the work can then be both productive and time
constrained.

Ask students working in pairs to put a cross (X) on each of the questions they could not answer. The
teacher can keep alert to this and prompt other successful students to give answers to these later. Always
test a few at the end of a session, especially ones that might evoke humour.

A key message for the students is: "Make sure you use the word in your answers."

Revision and Extension Exercises

These exercises can be considered voluntary. They may be used for revision or for testing. Many of the
exercises invite the student to make further observations about collocations or about how meaning is
construed from the contexts given.

There are a variety of exercises which simply provide further contexts, and towards the end there are
exercises which either invite conversation or test the students' ability to retrieve vocabulary.

The Spelling and Pronunciation Exercises are extra options too and require no further explanation. It is
likely that students will practise from these optional extras on the CD-ROM at home or in a self-access
situation.
Final Observations

Written Feedback

It is important to remember that the students' task is to demonstrate an understanding of meaning and use
of each word. The teacher should not be diverted by other inaccuracies either grammatical or lexical.

It is advisable to give feedback after completion of the first half sentence so that students can make any
changes or recalculations for the second half sentence and sentence of their own. The teacher can take
this opportunity of doing a word in two parts to decide which students need to use STEP 6. Feedback can
be brief and does not have to be an onerous job.

Reward the students. A tick will suffice for success and a request to try again for failure – that is, taking
note of the patterns and meaning of the word t hrough an underst anding of the whole of the model
sentence.

NOTE: It is a good idea for the teacher to convey and the student to
receive praise via a code.
A single tick for "Yes, you have mastered this word"
and two ticks for "Yes, you have got it exactly right
and presented an inventive use of the word."

If a number of students do not do a particular word well*, the teacher can do all steps including STEP 6 as
an all-class activity.

* a very few words are more complex in use e.g. "resultant", or novel and obscure in
meaning e.g. "given"…

Testing

The teacher can use parts of the Part 2 Paraphrases and Part 3 Word Puzzles, and any of the Revision
and Extension Exercises, for te sting purposes. Alternatively, he or she can devise an original testing
regime.

Finally, the teacher should be reassured that all intermediate

students can manage this resource. Some students will initially
need coaxing as demonstrated. A few others might resist at first
and others will just take time to accommodate themselves to it;
especially those students who have for a long time been used to
passive learning. But all intermediate students can manage this
resource.

Keith Burgess

Activating 1001 Academic Words For IELTS Copyright © Keith Burgess 2011 All Rights Reserved.
Published by Adams & Austen Press Pty. Ltd. www.aapress.com.au