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The Lexical Approach

What is "The Lexical Approach"?

Introduced in 1993 by Michael Lewis

The basic concept on which this approach rests is the idea that an important part of learning a language consists of being able to understand and produce lexical phrases as chunks.

The Lexical Approach concentrates on:

Developing the learner's proficiency with lexis or words and word combinations (chunks)

Vocabulary is more important than grammar in this approach

For example:

The word BREAK

Break the news Break even

to tell someone something important

make neither a profit nor a loss

Break the mold Break a habit

stop doing something one does regularly

put an end to a restrictive pattern by doing things differently

Tough break

bad luck

Lewis suggests that native speakers have a large inventory of lexical chunks that are vital for fluent production.

"Fluency does not depend on a set of generative grammar rules and a separate store of isolated words, but on the ability to rapidly access this inventory of chunks."

Lewis (1993) suggests the following:

  • Lexis is the basis of language.
  • Grammatical mastery is not a requirement for effective communication.
  • Syllabus should be organized around lexis rather than grammar

The key principle of a

lexical approach

“language consists of grammaticalized lexis,

not lexicalized grammar.”

Lexis is central in creating real meaning.

Grammar plays a secondary role in managing meaning.

When this principle is accepted...

what should teachers do?

Types of lexis

spend more time helping

learners develop their inventory of phrases

less time on grammatical structures.

what happens

with grammar?

  • Grammar is acquired by a process of observation, hypothesis and experiment.

  • We can use whole phrases without understanding their constituent parts.

lexical chunks

are groups of words that can be found together in language

Example: "in my opinion" "by the way" "at the end of the day" "Do you mind if I...?"

collocations

It refers to the regular occurrence of words together

DO my hair/the laundry/someone a favor

MAKE my bed/ a promise/ a wish

Break a habit, take a seat, catch a cold

Idioms

phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning.

examples:

To pull someone's leg

It's not rocket science

Cut to the chase

Similes

form of speech that compares two things that are alike in some way.

Examples:

As hungry as a wolf

As still as dead

As easy as A.B.C

Fixed Expressions

a standard form of expression that has taken on a more specific meaning than the expression itself.

Examples:

All of a sudden

As a matter a fact

Surf the web

OBJECTIVES

->To get students to become aware of use and to eventually master these type of lexis (chunks)

->To help learners to notice for themselves how language is typically used

-> Focus more on lexis rather than grammar structures

->Accelerate acquisition by contact with a sympathetic interlocutor with a higher level of competence in the target language

->Learn grammar by a process of observation, hypothesis and experiment.

Techniques

Lexical Approach in the classroom

teaching real English

and

  • Listening and reading

intensively

and extensively

  • first and second language comparisons and translation

  • noticing and recording language patterns and collocations

  • Working with dictionaries and other reference tools.

shift away from the artificial language found in ELT textbooks

  • repetition and recycling of activities

to keep words and expressions that

have been learned active

  • Have one source of vocabulary
  • guessing the meaning of vocabulary items from context

So, how does the Lexical Approach deal with the teaching part?

Even if the approach does not present a clear theory of learning there are some hints about how the teaching looks like within the approach.

Teacher's Role

-> The speaking of the teacher as the major source of learner's input (the same as the natural approach)

-> To help students manage their own learning

Student's Role

->The analyzer of real life language samples

->The idea of learner as a "discoverer".

->To observe, classify and make generalizations

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