QUICK RESOURCE SHEET #79

Lexical Approach

 

PREVIOUS TOPICS LISTED AT BOTTOM OF PAGE

 

 

 

lexical approach: An approach to teaching languages that has a lot in common with the communicative approach, but also examines how lexical phrases, prefabricated chunks of language, play an important role in producing fluent speech. The lexical approach was first coined by Michael Lewis. The fundamental principle of the lexical approach is "language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar." What this means is that lexical phrases offer far more language generative power than grammatical structures. Accordingly, advocates of this kind of approach argue that lexis should move to the center of language syllabuses. Justification for this theory comes from statistical analysis of language which shows that we do indeed speek in chunks and collocations.

---from http://bogglesworld.com/glossary/lexicalapproach.htm

 

 

 

We believe that students can most effectively acquire language by giving full attention to lexis, i.e. to grammatically-rich chunks of two to seven words, rather than predominantly to single, isolated words. It's increasingly clear from research that these chunks play a central role in the production of natural-sounding combinations of spoken and written language, in development of grammatical competence, in pronunciation, in reading skill, and in fluent speech. In other words, chunking is a powerful and coherent organizing principle for many aspects of language acquisition. Most importantly, focusing on lexis implies a continuum and overlap between vocabulary and grammar, which have traditionally been dealt with separately in English language teaching.

--- from http://www.eli.ubc.ca/teachers/teaching_lexically.html

 

 

 

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/lexical_approach1.shtml

 

“In recent years it has been recognised both that native speakers have a vast stock of these lexical chunks (which) are vital for fluent production. Fluency does not depend so much on having a set of generative grammar rules and a separate stock of words - the 'slot and filler' or open choice principle - as on having rapid access to a stock of chunks.”

 

 

 

 

http://iteslj.org/Articles/Kavaliauskiene-LA.html

 

“Revision and consolidation are a required part of the process of vocabulary acquisition. The process of forgetting is very fast. According to research on memorising, a human being forgets 80 per cent of new information in 24 hours. It might sound exaggerated, but there is some truth in it, though these figures are different for different people. But the fact remains that the less a person is interested in something, the faster the process of forgetting is. Thus, revision and consolidation must take place after a lapse of time. A learner must use all available methods for developing all language skills, some of which are matching pairs, sorting exercises, pictorial schemata, problem solving tasks, values clarification, discussion, role-play, including oral presentations and writing summaries.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/lexis-new-grammar.htm

 

“The natural English syllabus provides a counterweight to these engrained course book traditions, by shifting the balance away from the priorities of a written model of the language, with its overemphasis on structures, towards lexis and the needs of the L2 speaker. The syllabus currently focuses on intermediate and upper-intermediate learners, and the framework was established by analysing the performance of a cross-section of intermediate learners, over a range of communicative tasks, in comparison to low advanced/advanced learners.”

 

 

 

http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Taiwo-Collocation.html

 

“…we might expect bank (where money is kept) to have a high probability of co-occurrence with cheque, cashier, account , transfer, ledger, etc ., but a low probability of co-occurrence with bed, saucepan apple, etc . Lexical items involved in collocations are always, to some degree, mutually predictable (Crystal, 1995).

The relationship of collocation according to McCarthy (1995) is fundamental in the study of vocabulary…Knowledge of appropriate collocations is part of the native speakers' competence. Collocation, therefore deserves to be a central part of vocabulary learning. Effective performance of ESL learners depend on their stock of conventional collocations, which are characterized by varying degrees of restrictedness.”

 

 

 

 

http://www.eli.ubc.ca/teachers/bibliography.html

 

A selected bibliography on the theme of the Lexical Approach

 

 

 

 

 

Previous editions of the QUICK RESOURCE SHEET

#1 – Creating quizzes (and more) online                                                         

#2 – Vocabulary builders

#3 – Online discussion groups for English teachers                                    

#4 – Grammar headaches – and how to cure them

#5 – Resources for new teachers                                                     

#6 – International Education Week

#7 – Mentoring programs                                                                    

#8 – Education publications online

#9 – Applied Linguistics                                                                   

#10 – English for Young Learners

#11 – World AIDS Day                                                                      

#12 – Online writing guides

#13 – E-mail exchanges                                                                      

#14 – Free online English courses

#15 – Effective e-mail communication                                             

#16 – Libraries online

#17 – American Studies                                                                     

#18 – Teaching methodologies

#19 – Internet tutorials                                                                       

#20 – Using the newspaper – Part I

#21 – Making books                                                                           

#22 - Using the newspaper – Part II

#23 – Human rights in language teaching

#24 – Blogging

#25 – Poetry and language teaching

#26 – The communicative approach

#27 -  Idioms

#28 – Earth Day

#29 – Alternative assessment

#30 – Peer assessment

#31 – Self-assessment

#32 – Portfolio assessment – Part I

#33 -  Portfolio assessment - Part II (Online Portfolios)

#34 – Intercultural communication

#35 – Teaching Adults

#36 – Learning disorders / Special needs

#37 – Using computers in reading instruction

#38 – Use of authentic materials

#39 – English for Medical Purposes

#40 – Sources for authentic materials

#41 – Education and technology

#42 – Academic writing

#43 – Teaching and stress

#44 – Back to school

#45 – Motivating students

#46 – Action research

#47 – Internet terminology

#48 – Fluency

#49 – Curriculum design

#50 – Pragmatics

#51 - Podcasting for English teachers

#52 – Critical reading

#53 – Learner autonomy

#54 – Scaffolding

#55 – Holidays

#56 – English for Academic Purposes

#57 – Mixed-level classes

#58 – The brain and language learning

#59 – Book clubs/Readers’ groups

#60 – Teachers and technology

#61 – Using video in the language classroom

#62 – Internet-based classroom projects

#63 – Observing student teachers

#64 – Digital literacy

#65 – Group work

#66 – Giving feedback on student writing

#67 – Vlogging

#68 – Educational leadership

#69 – The first five minutes: How to get a class warmed up

#70 – Managing test anxiety

#71 – Developing listening comprehension

#72 – Discourse analysis

#73 – English for Tourism

#74 – Storytelling

#75 – Virtual Learning Environments

#76 – Sociolinguistics

#77 – Corpus Linguistics

#78 – Teaching teenagers