Academic Skills Collocations

Pre-intermediate (A2) 40 minutes
Academic Skills Collocations preview for Pre-intermediate A2: matching, binary choice, gap-fill, writing sentences, discussion, freer pair work

ACL Academic Skills Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary, Reading and Writing Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill, Writing Sentences - Speaking Activity: Discussion - Pair Work

In this academic skills collocations worksheet, students learn and practice eight common academic verb-noun collocations and use them to make clear study plans...

ACL Academic Skills Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary, Reading and Writing Exercises: Matching, Binary Choice, Gap-fill, Writing Sentences - Speaking Activity: Discussion, Freer Practice - Pair Work In this academic skills collocations worksheet, students learn and practice eight common academic verb-noun collocations and use them to describe their study goals and plans. First, students match words from a box to pictures. Students then match verbs to nouns, using each letter once. Next, students underline the correct collocation to complete each sentence. After that, students study a completed example and fill in four gaps in a text about a student's study plans with collocations from a box. Students then choose three collocations for their own study plans and write them down. Following a model, students write what they want to do and how they plan to practice, using all three collocations. Finally, students discuss which plan is easiest, which is most difficult and what they can do to practice this week with a partner.
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Academic Collocations 1 to 10

Intermediate (B1) 40 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations 1 to 10 Worksheet preview for Intermediate B1: matching, gap-fill, guided discussion, communicative group work

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Discussion - Group Work

In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten collocations from the Academic Collocation List and use them to discuss their opinions on a range of topics. Students match sentence halves...

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Guided Discussion, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten collocations from the Academic Collocation List and use them to discuss their opinions on a range of topics. First, students match sentence halves to form sentences containing academic collocations, using each letter once. Students then explain examples in their own words to check their understanding. Next, students complete statements with the collocations, changing word forms or adding small words where needed. Finally, students decide whether they agree or disagree with the statements and discuss their views in small groups, giving reasons and responding to each other's ideas.
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Academic Collocations 11 to 20

Intermediate (B1) 30 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations 11 to 20 Worksheet preview for Intermediate B1: matching, identifying, error correction, gap-fill, guided discussion, pair work

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Identifying, Error Correction, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity - Pair Work

In this free academic collocations worksheet, students practice the meaning and use of ten collocations through matching, correction and discussion. First, students match...

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Identifying, Error Correction, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Guided Discussion - Pair Work In this free academic collocations worksheet, students practice the meaning and use of ten collocations through matching, correction and discussion. First, students match collocations from a box to their definitions, using each letter once. Students then check their understanding through examples. Next, students identify and correct collocation errors in sentences, leaving correct sentences unchanged. After that, students complete an opinion statement with three collocations. Finally, students consider the statement in relation to a country they know and discuss whether they agree with a partner, giving reasons for their opinions.
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Academic Collocations 21 to 30

Intermediate (B1) 30 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations 21 to 30 Worksheet preview for Intermediate B1: matching, gap-fill, table completion, discussion, communicative group work

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Discussion - Group Work

In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten collocations and use them to discuss social and economic issues. First, students match sentence halves to form academic collocations in context...

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill, Table Completion - Speaking Activity: Discussion, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten collocations and use them to discuss social and economic issues. First, students match sentence halves to form sentences containing academic collocations. After checking the meanings, students complete sentences using the collocations. Next, students decide whether they agree or disagree with six statements and record brief reasons in a table. Finally, students discuss their opinions in small groups, explaining their reasons and responding to each other's ideas.
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Academic Collocations 31 to 40

Intermediate (B1) 40 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations 31 to 40 Worksheet preview for Intermediate B1: matching, gap-fill, guided discussion, communicative group work

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Communicative Practice - Group Work

In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten academic collocations and use them to discuss a range of issues, giving reasons for their opinions...

ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Gap-fill - Speaking Activity: Guided Discussion, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this academic collocations worksheet, students practice ten academic collocations and use them to discuss a range of issues. First, students match sentence halves to form sentences containing academic collocations. After checking the meanings, students complete statements using each collocation once, changing word forms where necessary. Finally, students discuss whether they agree or disagree with the statements in small groups, giving reasons for their answers and asking follow-up questions.
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Academic Collocation Challenge

Upper-intermediate (B2) 40 minutes
ACL Academic Collocation Games preview for Upper-intermediate B2: pelmanism, matching, snap, sentence formation, pair work

ACL Academic Collocation Matching Games - Vocabulary: Pelmanism, Matching, Snap, Forming Sentences - Pair Work

In these academic collocation games, students match 24 collocations and use them in sentences. Students play a memory game, then compete to spot matching collocations in snap and use them in sentences...

ACL Academic Collocation Matching Games - Vocabulary: Pelmanism, Matching, Snap, Forming Sentences from Prompts - Pair Work In these academic collocation games, students match 24 collocations and use them in sentences. First, students review the collocations and clarify unfamiliar meanings. In pairs, students then play a pelmanism game, taking turns turning over two cards to find a listed collocation. Students check claimed matches against a cheat sheet. For a listed match, the student keeps the cards and has another turn. If not, the student turns the cards back over and play passes to their partner. The student with the most matches wins. After that, students play snap for ten minutes. Both students turn over a card at the same time. For a listed collocation, the first student to say 'Snap!' scores one point after checking the match. That student then says a sentence using the collocation for an extra point, with their partner checking its meaning and grammar. After ten minutes, the student with the most points wins.
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Academic Collocations Jeopardy

Upper-intermediate (B2) 25 minutes
ACL Academic Collocation Game preview for Upper-intermediate B2: quiz, guessing, group work

ACL Academic Collocations Quiz Game - Vocabulary: Quiz, Guessing - Group Work

In this academic collocations quiz game, students review 25 collocations from the Academic Collocation List by identifying them from definitions. Teams compete to win squares and points by giving correct answers in the five academic categories...

ACL Academic Collocations Quiz Game - Vocabulary: Quiz, Guessing - Group Work In this academic collocations quiz game, students review 25 collocations from the Academic Collocation List by identifying them from definitions. First, students form four teams and choose team names. The teacher chooses a category and point value and reads the definition. Students raise their hands to answer, and the first correct answer wins the square and its points for their team. Suitable equivalent collocations are accepted, and the teacher confirms the listed answer. If a student answers incorrectly, their team cannot answer that question again. If no team answers correctly, the teacher gives the answer and chooses the next unused square. Otherwise, the winning team chooses the next square, and all teams can answer. When all the squares have been played, the teacher adds up the points for each team. The team with the most points wins. As an optional longer variation, the winning team makes a sentence with the collocation to double the points for the square.
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Academic Collocations Race

Upper-intermediate (B2) 30 minutes
ACL Academic Collocation Game preview for Upper-intermediate B2: gap-fill, giving reasons, error correction, freer practice, group work

ACL Academic Collocations Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-fill, Giving Reasons, Error Correction - Group Work

In this academic collocations board game, students practice collocations 41–60 from the Academic Collocation List through gap-fill, context-choice, and error-correction tasks. Players take turns rolling the dice...

ACL Academic Collocations Board Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-fill, Giving Reasons, Error Correction, Freer Practice - Group Work In this academic collocations board game, students practice collocations 41–60 from the Academic Collocation List through gap-fill, context-choice, and error-correction tasks. In groups, students take turns rolling the dice and moving their counters along the board. When a player lands on a 'Gap-fill' square, another student reads a card aloud, saying 'blank' in place of the collocation in bold. The player chooses a collocation from the board to complete the sentence. On a 'Context' square, another student reads a situation, and the player chooses a suitable collocation and explains their choice. On a 'Correction' square, another student reads the sentence without revealing the answer, and the player chooses a collocation to correct it. The other players check answers, accepting valid alternatives, and evaluate the explanations given for context cards. Students can ask the teacher for help with uncertain answers. Players stay on their square for a correct or suitable answer and move back two squares for an incorrect or inadequate answer. On a 'Choose a card' square, players choose a card pile, while a 'Miss a turn' square means missing their next turn. The first player to reach the finish wins the game.
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Collocation Connection Quest

Upper-intermediate (B2) 30 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations Game preview for Upper-intermediate B2: making connections, giving reasons, communicative group work

ACL Academic Collocation Connections Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Making Connections, Giving Reasons, Communicative Practice - Group Work

In this academic collocation connections game, students link cards by making logical connections between collocations and explaining their reasoning clearly...

ACL Academic Collocation Connections Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Making Connections, Giving Reasons, Communicative Practice - Group Work In this academic collocations game, students link cards by making logical connections between collocations and explaining their reasoning. First, students check unfamiliar meanings and look at examples of clear and vague explanations. In groups, students then take turns adding a collocation card at either end of a chain, explaining how it relates to the adjacent card. For example, a student could connect 'collect data' with 'conduct research' by explaining that researchers need to collect data during their research. Students must explain a specific relationship, such as steps in a process or cause and effect, rather than simply name a shared topic. If all the other players agree that the connection makes sense, the card stays in the chain and play passes to the next student. If not, the player takes back any card they tried and draws another card if any remain. After four consecutive unsuccessful turns, the next player starts a new chain. The first player to get rid of all their cards wins the game.
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Collocations for Research Writing

Advanced (C1) 45 minutes
ACL Academic Collocations Worksheet preview for Advanced C1: gap-fill, ordering, binary choice, identifying, rewriting sentences, paragraph writing

ACL Research Writing Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary and Writing Exercises: Gap-fill, Identifying, Rewriting Sentences, Paragraph Writing

In this research writing collocations worksheet, students use eight ACL collocations to improve sentences and paragraphs in academic writing...

ACL Research Writing Collocations Worksheet - Vocabulary and Writing Exercises: Gap-fill, Ordering, Binary Choice, Identifying, Rewriting Sentences, Paragraph Writing In this research writing collocations worksheet, students learn and practice eight collocations from the Academic Collocation List for use in thesis and research paper writing. First, students complete academic collocations in sentences with words from a box and then number the sentences in a logical order to create steps for writing a thesis or research paper. Next, students choose the correct collocation to complete each sentence. After that, students identify a phrase in each sentence that can be replaced with an academic collocation and write the collocation in its correct form. Students then discuss how suitable collocations can make writing more precise and appropriate for its context. Following that, students rewrite sentences using academic collocations and an appropriate register while keeping the original meaning. Next, students rewrite a thesis extract in the same way, and the class builds a model version with the teacher. Finally, students write a paragraph describing the steps they would take to write a thesis or research paper on a topic of their choice, using at least four academic collocations and an appropriate academic register. If time is limited, this final task can be completed for homework.
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Using Academic Collocations

Academic collocations are combinations of words commonly used together in academic contexts, such as 'conduct research' and 'collect data'. Learning these combinations helps students express ideas naturally and choose suitable wording for academic tasks.

This page contains ten resources from pre-intermediate (A2) to advanced (C1), including one free worksheet. The materials cover academic skills, numbered collocation sets, matching and discussion games, and collocations for research writing.

Use the examples below to connect each expression with a communicative purpose. These illustrative combinations are not a claim about which numbered set contains each item.

PurposeCollocationExample
Describe an investigation conduct research 'The team plans to conduct research into language learning.'
Gather information collect data 'Students collected data through interviews.'
Identify a study's focus research question 'The introduction explains the research question.'
Examine information analyse data 'The researchers analysed the data before writing their report.'
Support a point provide evidence 'The essay needs to provide evidence for its main claim.'
Interpret findings draw a conclusion 'We need more information before drawing a conclusion.'

How to Develop Academic Collocations

Record combinations in context: Ask students to note the whole expression and a short example rather than copy isolated words. Highlight any article, preposition or word form needed in the sentence.

Choose language for the task: Connect expressions with what students need to explain, such as a study goal or a research process. Do not encourage them to insert academic phrases merely to make a text sound more advanced.

Check alternatives carefully: More than one combination may be natural. Use examples from suitable academic texts or a dictionary to check unfamiliar choices, and distinguish an unusual combination from a grammatical error.

3-Step Framework for Teaching Academic Collocations

Across intermediate and upper-intermediate lessons, move from supported sentence work to discussion and explaining relationships. The resources use different collocation sets, so introduce unfamiliar expressions before each stage rather than assume the same vocabulary continues throughout.

1. Establish meaning in sentences: Students match sentence halves containing academic collocations and use the expressions to complete statements. Ask them to explain the completed statements before discussing whether they agree with them. This connects recognition with an initial response to meaning.

2. Develop and question opinions: Students complete statements with a further collocation set, then discuss their views in small groups. They give reasons and ask follow-up questions. Encourage them to use the expressions where they fit the point they want to make.

3. Explain connections between expressions: Students place collocation cards in a chain and explain logical relationships, such as stages in a process. The group decides whether each connection makes sense. This extends practice from completing a sentence to explaining how academic actions or ideas relate.

Common Mistakes with Academic Collocations

Translating a verb combination word by word: A familiar verb may not form a natural combination with the intended noun. Unnatural in this context: 'The team made research into study habits.' Natural alternative: 'The team conducted research into study habits.' 'Carried out research' is another suitable option.

Losing the noun's countability pattern: Learning the combination includes knowing how its noun behaves. Incorrect: 'The report provides an evidence for the claim.' Correct: 'The report provides evidence for the claim.' Use 'a piece of evidence' when referring to one individual item.

Common Questions About Teaching Academic Collocations

What game helps students practice academic collocations?

The game Academic Collocations Race combines sentence completion, context choices and error correction on a board. Students select collocations to answer each challenge, explaining their choices on context cards. Suitable answers let them stay on their square, so progress depends on using the expressions appropriately rather than simply recognising them.

What free worksheet helps teach academic collocations?

The worksheet Academic Collocations 11 to 20 begins with matching expressions to definitions. Students then identify and correct collocation errors before completing a sentence with three target expressions. A final partner discussion asks them to respond to the opinion in that sentence, connecting vocabulary accuracy with an exchange of ideas.

How can I teach collocations for research writing?

The worksheet Collocations for Research Writing links academic expressions with the stages of writing a thesis or research paper. Students complete and order sentences, select collocations and revise informal wording. They then improve a paragraph and write their own account of a research-writing process, applying the expressions in connected prose.

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