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| This tool has been specially designed to help you learn the key words for more effective university study. If you are studying at university or planning to do so in the future, then the UVT is for you. |
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| The UVT is a web-based, multi-media tool for the learning of key academic vocabulary. It is designed to help you understand and use these key words so you can read and write more effectively at university. The UVT is funded by the Hong Kong Government's Language Fund and developed at the Language Centre of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. It is freely available for personal and school use. | |
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There are
two main parts to the UVT - the Learning Zone and Practice
Zone.
In the Learning Zone (Figure 1), the UVT provides
definitions of the words in English and Chinese, examples
of use from the four corpora, and pronunciation. This is so
that you can learn the words' meaning, how they are used in
writing, and what they sound like. The words next to the entry
word in square brackets are its most frequent forms; e.g.
'absorption' and 'absorbed' are the most frequent forms of
the word 'absorb'.
Figure
2
The Practice Zone (Figure 2) will help you to strengthen your learning of the words through short comprehension exercises on the words' meaning and use. The purpose of the practice is to strengthen your learning of the words, not to test you. We therefore strongly recommend that you use the Practice Zone. |
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The
words in the UVT are organized according to their frequency
of occurrence. There are four levels, Level 1-4. Level
1 contains the most frequent words while Level 4 contains
the least frequent. Each level has about 160 words; the whole
UVT contains over 600 words. You can also learn by going through Level 1 to Level 4 at your own pace or by selecting the words individually. Another way to select the words you want to learn is by using the Word List. Simply click on the Word List and then click on any word to learn that word. Words learned will change colours so you can see what words you have learned at a glance. You can also learn or practise a word by typing it in the Learn Word or Practice Word box. If the word is not available, this means it did not appear frequently enough to be included in the UVT, or that it was a specialized word that only appears in certain subjects. For example, the word combustion occurs only in science and engineering texts and is excluded from the UVT because it is a specialized rather than general academic word. However, we have included an Internet link to a comprehensive dictionary (in Dictionary) for you to conveniently look up words that are not in the UVT. Whichever way you choose to learn the words, the UVT will always keep track of your learning so that you know exactly which words you have learned. A Matching Game is also available for you to strengthen your understanding. Click on Matching Game to use this. Problem Words contain words that Hong Kong students have problems with. Click on Problem Words to see these words, the common mistakes made by Hong Kong students, and learn to avoid them. Root Words contain notes on common roots of English words. As a large number of academic words contain high frequency roots, knowing them will help you to guess the meaning of new words. |
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| University
students are required to read a large number of academic books
and papers, and write academic papers. Having a good knowledge
of the type of vocabulary needed for this purpose will enable
you to study more effectively.
The UVT contains over 600 key academic words that have been extracted from university textbooks in the four main fields of business, engineering, humanities and social science, and science. Each word has the following features to help you understand and use it:
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Each of the four main fields is divided into sub-fields that
represent their various areas. For example, the main field of
business includes the sub-fields accounting, economics, finance
and marketing. Extracts from university textbooks in these subfields
are taken and put together to form a large computer database
(called a corpus). Statistical analysis is then performed on
the four main corpora (databases) of business, engineering,
humanities and social science, and science, in order to obtain
the key academic words. Only words that are above a certain
frequency and occur in all the four fields get included in the
UVT. This ensures that the words are general academic words
that you are most likely to meet.
Since these words are extracted from the types of books you will be exposed to at university, knowing them will help you in your studies. |
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| If you have questions or would like to give us your feedback, simply click on the Feedback button to send your message to us. We welcome your feedback and comments. | |
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The UVT project team wishes to thank the following for their
help:
Lai Chen The UVT was developed by Kenneth Chan and Gregory James, and was funded by The Language Fund, The Hong Kong Government. Powered by WebServe. |
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To start, click on Learning Zone at the top of the page.