Vocabulary in academic spoken English

Understanding academic spoken English is an important but challenging task for many users of English as an additional language. Vocabulary knowledge plays a significant role in enhancing comprehension, but little is known about the nature of vocabulary in academic spoken English. This article reviews our current studies which are among the very few attempts to address this research gap. It focuses on (a) the number of words needed to comprehend academic spoken English, (b) English for Academic Purposes (EAP) learners’ knowledge of high-frequency words, (c) the extent to which academic written word lists cover the vocabulary in academic spoken English, (d) the most frequent and wide-ranging words in academic spoken English, and (e) how to incorporate these words in vocabulary learning programs for EAP learners. Directions for future research are also discussed in the article.