Whether, when and why to care about accuracy in English

In everyday social and working situations high degrees of language accuracy and precision are not typically necessary, with many contexts requiring a stronger focus on the ability to be understood than perfectly formulated English.  By contrast, academia is characterized by its detailed description and in-depth analysis of complex phenomena, with fine distinctions and subtle differences in meaning playing key roles in academic discourse.  As such, a finer-grained understanding of English, the lingua franca of modern academic communication, is essential to a successful academic career.

This presentation provides and discusses several interesting examples of situations in which differing levels of precision in the use of English vocabulary can achieve different effects in different contexts.