Academic English

PHOTO Chinese lanterns for New Year Festival in Auckland ACADEMIC WORD Transition is the process of adjustment and adaptation to a new environment. For example, if the situation in a country has changed, people talk about a society in transition. If there are no problems during the process, it’s a smooth transition – but that’s rare. Usually, people find it difficult to make the transition to a new role or situation. Transition is sometimes used as a verb too, especially in business. For example, the firm is transitioning to a new accounting system. TEST Which one of these sentences is NOT correct? The transition between childhood and adolescence can be a troubling one. The process of adaptation needs to be fully transitioned before the new system can be used. We support students during their crucial transition into university study. Her novels depict communities in transition from traditional lifestyles. QUIZ Which of these is NOT a public holiday in New Zealand? Labour Day Queen’s Birthday Thanksgiv

PHOTO Scene from the Summer 2016 production of King Lear at the Pumphouse, Takapuna. Edgar asks his (now blind) father Gloucester to visualise Dover Cliff. ACADEMIC WORD Visualise means to be able to imagine or understand something visually. Sometimes lecturers ask the audience to visualise a real or imaginary scene which they are describing. Charts and models are important ways of allowing readers to visualise data and theories. One example of this is the way that important concepts in a subject are organised into a taxonomy, which shows the relationship between the different elements in a system – these are typically represented in visual form as a tree diagram or a network. This is the topic of today’s online lecture. TEST Which one of these sentences is NOT correct? Can you visualise Donald Trump as US President? I’d like you to visualise the scene as the emergency services arrivde at the site. The following slide visualises the structure of dna. The traditional organizational chart may distort

PHOTO Next to Milford Beach, Auckland, New Zealand ACADEMIC WORD Oblique means indirect. The word oblique comes from mathematics, where it refers to angles which are not 90, 180 or 360 degrees. But it is also used to describe a message that is deliberately indirect. She made an oblique reference to my lack of experience. QUIZ Which one of these sentences is NOT correct? His speech was widely interpreted as an oblique criticism of Government policy. I prefer to set my desk at an oblique angle to the window. We are taking an oblique route to avoid the traffic. The film makes several oblique references to contemporary politics. VIDEO This is a TED talk by Tim Harford about the advantages of messy problems - problems and situations that seem uncomfortable and disorganised but can stimulate people to find more creative and successful solutions. I have inserted comprehension questions in the video and added a list of interesting vocabulary at the end. To see the lecture, click on the url below (or copy and p

ACADEMIC WORD OF THE DAY A stereotype is an inaccurate, exaggerated (and usually negative) image of people or places. So, for example, a stereotypical English person is supposed to be punctual and to enjoy queuing and talking about the weather. Of course, there is sometimes ‘a grain of truth’ in a stereotype! But stereotypes can be dangerous when they stop people from appreciating diversity and individuality or when they are used as an excuse to look down on people from a particular culture because of unfair and exaggerated prejudices. TEST Here are four sentences with the word of the day. Three of them are correct – which is the odd one out? Our research project aims to develop an evidence-based stereotype of kiwi culture. She was red-haired and quick-tempered and seemed to fit the stereotype of a celtic woman, though she was, in fact, Italian. Children need to hear stories of strong, successful women that challenge the stereotypes that they may have picked up from popular culture.