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Academic Word List- Expressing Certainty and Uncertainty

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Sure and unsure expressions practice with AWL vocabulary

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Academic Word List expressing certainty and uncertainty

Do the AWL words and phrases below express certainty or uncertainty? Label the rows with these three signs:

+ = No doubt (positive)

- = No doubt (negative)

? = Doubt

They are arranged into lines where all three are the same type, so you don’t need to check every single one.

 

apparent/ apparently                   approximate/ approximately       in the area of…

 

depends on the context               contradictory                                               controversial

 

comprehensive                             conclusively                                                confirmed

 

illogical                                          manipulated results                                    abnormal results

 

debatable                                                    diversity of opinion                                     first draft

 

assuredly                                                     authoritative/ an authority on…  clearly

 

assumed to be                              under some circumstances       attributed to…

 

conceivable/ conceivably                          can conceive (of)…                                    there is conflict about…

 

conforms fully to…                                     full consensus about…                convincing

 

we are ignorant of…                    misinterpreted                               unjustified

has been established by…                       evident/ self-evident                     expert opinion

 

being (re)formulated                     on shaky foundations                  hypothetical

 

interpretation                                               under investigation                                    he maintains that…

 

the vast majority believes…       under mediation                                         a minority believe…

 

fully matches the criteria                           definitive                                                      demonstrable

 

undeniable                                                  documented/ well documented  emphatic/ emphatically

 

a notion                                                        it occurs to me that…                   the odds are that…

 

variable outcomes                                      the perception is that…               one perspective on…

 

inherent/ inherently                                    objective                                                      obvious/ obviously

 

a portion of…                                potentially                                                    imprecise

 

unpredictable                                predict/ prediction                                      preliminary findings

 

inconceivable/ inconceivably     erroneous/ erroneously               unfounded

 

presume/ presumption                in principle                                                   a prospective…

 

being pursued                               within the range of…                    being refined

 

we can be positive that…                          precise                                           predictable

 

one scenario is that..                    scope for disagreement             being revised

 

a section of society believes...   simulation                                                    so-called

 

we can reject…                             irrelevant                                                      unreliable

 

unstable/ instability                                    the present status is...                 a submission

 

the target is...                                theoretically                                                 traditionally

 

being transformed                                      in a transition stage                                    he has undertaken to...

 

secure in the knowledge that...  straightforward                              ultimately,...

 

results can vary                            he had a vision of...                                    virtually

 

unsustainable                               unobtainable                                               invalid

 

the policy is to…                                         estimated/ estimation                  under evaluation

 

on firm foundations                                    guaranteed                                                  inevitable/ inevitably

 

in the region of…                                        being researched

 

invariable                                                     has been resolved

All the vocabulary is from the Academic Word List. Ask about any that you don’t understand.

Do you know any other words and phrases (for example ones not on the AWL) with similar meanings?

Test each other in pairs, with one person reading out examples and the other person guessing “doubt” or “no doubt”.

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Suggested answers

apparent/ apparently                   approximate/ approximately       in the area of…?

 

depends on the context               contradictory                                               controversial?

 

comprehensive                             conclusively                                                confirmed+

 

illogical                                          manipulated results                                    abnormal results-

 

debatable                                                    diversity of opinion                                     first draft?

 

assuredly                                                     authoritative/ an authority on…  clearly+

 

assumed to be                              under some circumstances       attributed to…?

 

conceivable/ conceivably                          can conceive (of)…                                    there is conflict about?

 

conforms fully to…                                     full consensus about…                convincing+

 

we are ignorant of…                    misinterpreted                               unjustified-

has been established by…                       evident/ self-evident                     expert opinion+

 

being (re)formulated                     on shaky foundations                  hypothetical?

 

interpretation                                               under investigation                                    he maintains that…?

 

the vast majority believes…       under mediation                                         a minority believe…?

 

fully matches the criteria                           definitive                                                      demonstrable+

 

undeniable                                                  documented/ well documented  emphatic(ally)+

 

a notion                                                        it occurs to me that…                   the odds are that…?

 

variable outcomes                                      the perception is that…               one perspective on…+

 

inherent/ inherently                                    objective                                                      obvious/ obviously+

 

a portion of…                                potentially                                                    imprecise?

 

unpredictable                                predict/ prediction                                      preliminary findings?

 

inconceivable/ inconceivably     erroneous/ erroneously               unfounded-

 

presume/ presumption                in principle                                                   a prospective…?

 

being pursued                               within the range of…                    being refined?

 

we can be positive that…                          precise                                           predictable+

 

one scenario is that..                    scope for disagreement             being revised?

 

a section of society believes...   simulation                                                    so-called?

 

we can reject…                             irrelevant                                                      unreliable-

 

unstable/ instability                                    the present status is...                 a submission?

 

the target is...                                theoretically                                                 traditionally?

 

being transformed                                      in a transition stage                                    he has undertaken to?

 

secure in the knowledge that...  straightforward                              ultimately,...+

 

results can vary                            he had a vision of...                                    virtually?

 

unsustainable                               unobtainable                                               invalid-

 

the policy is to…                                         estimated/ estimation                  under evaluation?

 

on firm foundations                                    guaranteed                                                  inevitable/ inevitably+

 

in the region of…                                        being researched?

 

invariable                                                     has been resolved+

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