Vocabulary as a writer’s identity

Vocabulary is not just one of many tools at a writer’s disposal. The choice of words may bolster or undermine the author’s intention, and the lexical profile is an integral part of a writer’s identity. Therefore, perfecting their lexical toolkit is essential for every researcher who aspires to be an international author.

 

The Academic Writing Center opened the semester with a new one-day course Master Academic Vocabulary. The program was designed by the AWC trainer Tatiana Golechkova in order to equip HSE researchers with effective vocabulary boosting techniques for better writing. Participants shared their favorite methods of searching and memorizing words, practiced using various online resources and tools, and explored ways of transforming academic texts in their field into valuable sources of  lexis. On top of acquiring practical skills, the participants went away with a field-specific glossary, which they started drafting during the course. 

The intensive one-day format allowed the colleagues to delve deeper into the topic, and the interaction with the trainer and the peers created synergy:

• “What was important for me in this course is that I learned about several specific practices that are helpful in one's vocabulary work. For instance,now I can purposefully approach acquiring new vocabulary items from the academic works that I read: highlight them, create cards with them in a tool like Anki, and then practice them to eventually integrate them in my own speech and writing. It was very helpful to see how all of this can be done and to be guided through this process.”
• “The course was great. Our mentor was devoted to teaching and sharing information with the participants. Thanks a lot to Tatiana for the one-day, but intensive course.”
• “Everything is well balanced and relevant. I have understood how to use dictionaries effectively and to create my own dictionary. I have learnt that the level of difficulty of a word corresponds to its area of use.”
• We would like to thank Tatiana for the course and the colleagues for their feedback. 

This semester, you have a variety of AWC courses to choose from: we have prepared a new one-day course as well as long-running and popular courses on emailing, phonetics, and the language of a research article. Take your pick and join us in our quest for new knowledge and skills!