Paste or type any text into the box and click "Highlight AWL Words" to highlight the AWL
words in the text.
The Academic Word List (AWL) was developed by Averil Coxhead as her MA thesis at the
School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The
list contains 570 word families which were selected according to principles. The list does not include words
that are in the most frequent 2000 words of English. The AWL was primarily made so that it could be used by
teachers as part of a programme preparing learners for tertiary level study or used by students working
alone to learn the words most needed to study at tertiary institutions. The Academic Word List replaces the
University Word List.
For detail on the development and evaluation of the AWL, see Coxhead, Averil (2000) A New Academic Word
List. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2): 213-238.
