Vocabulary: How important is it?

[Tan]

I've never really thought about this but after reading all the pieces from the english worked examples directory.. I realised my vocab doesn't even compare.. I'm certainly not someone aiming for the highest marks for english but I do wish to do decently well... and so it makes me wonder, how important is a solid vocabulary exactly?
I'm definately not a reading type of person which probably explains why I have such terrible vocab (read like 1 and a half books this year) so I'm quite concerned.

[Russ]

Writing simply but logically and consistently can still get you a high mark. Vocabulary can often help in that, because a word such as "expound" is much more efficient/pleasing than a phrase such as "outlines his argument" but you can work around it.

You should try to expand your vocab but put a bigger focus on developing ideas, understanding concepts etc.

[Tan]

Would reading a few more books help? I'm not sure.. or should I just stick to my 3 texts that i'm studying next year?

[shinny]

Your pieces (possibly with the exception of context) have to be of an academic standard, so if your vocabulary is too basic, you will be likely to lose marks for being unable to express yourself in such a manner. However, this doesn't mean you need to type like pooshwaltzer in order to score well. As you can see from that example, it's often actually detrimental and I usually advise my less naturally talented students to just stay at a basic, academic level of vocabulary and not attempt to expand it because more often than not, it becomes detrimental to their marks in the process. While a complex vocabulary in the right hands can be quite effective, if you don't already possess one, I wouldn't go about trying to develop it now because there might not be enough time to develop your expression with them. Even if there was enough time, it'd be much better spent developing your ideas, learning your structure and developing your expression with the vocabulary you already have. In the end, there's more to English than just expression and content is a large part of it. I'd focus more of my time there. I go into detail regarding expression in my Summer prep course found here if you want help developing it into a more academic level though.

[funkyducky]

Would reading a few more books help? I'm not sure.. or should I just stick to my 3 texts that i'm studying next year?

Reading a lot is the only way to expand your vocabulary.

[Streaker]

Would reading a few more books help? I'm not sure.. or should I just stick to my 3 texts that i'm studying next year?

Reading a lot is the only way to expand your vocabulary.

For long-term improvement, yes.

For a short-term fix, the one way I improved my vocabulary when writing essays was by regularly searching for synonyms of words as I wrote my essays. Not the best way to replicate exam conditions but as October approached I began writing essays without using the thesaurus because I remembered words I had used beforehand. It helped me a lot.

Something that also helped me was making sure I had memorised templates for some parts of language analysis. This made it easy to incorporate a sophisticated vocabulary into my work e.g. you could write "the article is cleverly construed to appear to be in the hands of the reader, as demonstrated by the writer's insinuation that..." (and this could be written in any language analysis, it really becomes a fill-in-the-blank process). I also had a memorised introduction for my text response which could be slightly adapted to suit the question. A bit pedantic, I know

[Greatness]

I plan to memorise differnt sentence structures for LA, tbh it doestn seem that difficult and as Streaker said it's a good way of incorporating strong vocab.
Another idea would be to make a list of words that you can associate with the type of essay taht you're writing or to your text

[98.40_for_sure]

pooshwaltzer was my tutor for a few weeks prior to the english exam. My teacher doubted that i could even score 35 about half way through the year, but i ended up with 45 on a bad day because my vocab shone and made me stand out from the rest of the pack. Not advocating reading the dictionary or just any random ol books... get pro at USEFUL VOCAB! i did however... occasionally score 9s and not 10s due to verbosity on practice essays. i'd have read about a total of 2 books in my whole life, so you're sweet.

[m@tty]

^ were you seriously tutored by pooshwaltzer?

And no, vocab is not an imperative for success. It serves more a decorative role to your ideas; the ideas are the foundation of your essay and the flowery words allow for a more pleasing read.

On the other hand, a precise vocabulary is very important. Knowing the right words to use allows for strong, terse writing - which is a must for your essay. Any word you use has to be correctly placed. But you don't need to be using obscure words.

[funkyducky]

Languages exist to allow us to communicate succinctly. A wide vocabulary provides one with a "word bank" from which one can pick the words which will convey your message concisely, fluently and clearly. Mindless jargon, ready-made phrases and vague embellishment add nothing to your writing; if anything, over-embellishment creates a distraction and forces the reader to dig through a layer of nonsense in their attempt to piece together the meaning behind the words. Pooshwaltzer has evidently missed the fundamental point of English.

EDIT: My point - Knowing lots of obscure, flowery words isn't the key to writing well; understanding the words you use and choosing them carefully (for clarity, not for decoration) is.

[sheepgomoo]

its good to use some stronger vocab to make your essays sound pro; i use some words to make my essay sound deep but sometimes you have to be careful..

i got told off by my tutor for using less superior comparing a slave to an overseer. apparently its inferior...

ANYWAY if you're not sure... using simpler vocab is the way to go, i think.

[Streaker]

Also be careful when you're looking through a thesaurus and trying to pick words which 'sound good', make sure you know the meaning of the word that is to serve as the substitute. E.g. Beneficial does not necessarily mean salubrious, because salubrious tends to refer to health. Advantageous and benign would be better words.

[werdna]

its good to use some stronger vocab to make your essays sound pro.

This is the wrong mentality to take into VCE English - students sometimes concentrate too much on making their essays sound pro... just because an essay has twenty long words in it, doesn't mean it's a 'pro' essay.. more emphasis needs to be placed on the proper study of themes, character analysis and so on.

But I do admit I have used 'sophisticated' language in my essays, though very sparingly.

[Russ]

Adding sophisticated language improves the quality of an essay as long as it's used appropriately. Don't crowd sentences, just use it where it seems natural.

[dptjandra]

Having a limited vocabulary can cost you if it means the flow of your essay is disrupted by repetition of the same phrase sequence/word over and over again.  A few qualifying statements! i) This is still the case if you learn the one sophisticated word and attempt to keep using it all over your essay   ii) You learn lots of words and then use them incorrectly...*cringe*  iii) You can use the same phrase between two essays, but not within the same essay (since each marker marks one of your essays).

It can also be a problem if it means that your analysis is not as deep as it should be.  I wouldn't let a "sophisticated vocabulary" take too much precedence over having good ideas.  Rather, try to develop and present complex ideas in a clear and concise way, and you'll often find that a more sophisticated tone must naturally follow.  Part of this is learning the ideas using suitable language to start with.