Academic Word List- Expressing Certainty and Uncertainty
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Sure and unsure expressions practice with AWL vocabulary
Lesson Plan Content:
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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