Michele Dawn Prez Ruiz

Student number 26413035

LING6018 2013
Developments in Grammar and Lexis
Introduction
All human beings have the ability to store a lot of information, but we do not have
the same ability to retrieve the information. How we retrieve information has a lot
to do with how that information is stored. Psycholinguistics have done research on
language processing, and their studies have found that language is processed in
chunks. Many students struggle during class and on exam days because they can
not recall information properly.

I choose this topic because I think it is really

interesting how multi word units or chunks can be used and processed.

The

purpose of this essay is to talk about some of the developments in grammar and
lexis and to talk a little about the lexical approach. The main focus will not be on
how to use the lexical approach in the classroom however, several activities will be
given at the end.
Descriptive grammar
Grammar is usually divided into two areas (morphology and syntax). Morphology
is the study of words, and syntax is the study of sentence structure. Words are
basic units and can bridge the gap between grammar and lexis.

Words form

sentences, and sentences can give us grammatical and lexical information.

Descriptive grammar takes what is said and attempts to analysis it and form rules
about structure. The problem is that descriptive grammar puts a focus on labeling
or identifying, but not really in using the language. We may know what a noun is
and we may be able to pick it out in a sentence, but we may not be sure what it is
used for. We are going from a focus on syntax to a focus on lexicon.

Lexical chunks or multi word units

Lexical chunks or multi word units can be described by their grammatical types
Thornbury (1997) gives these categories: binomials, semi-fixed phrases, phrasal
verbs, idioms, discourse markers, sentence builders and social formulae. Basically
lexical chunks are a term used for many kinds of pairs or groups of words.
Collocations are also considered part of lexical chunks. As stated earlier is it
easier to remember and recall words as chunks.

We may not remember the

grammar, but we can remember the phrase.

The lexical approach
The lexical approach is based on the idea that an important part of language
acquisition is the ability to produce lexical phrases as chunks and that these
chunks become the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language
traditionally thought of as grammar.(Lewis 1993)
Through language analysis we can see that the traditional learning of grammar
rules does not seem to help in the use of those rules. Many students study an L2
for years without being able to order a meal or get a taxi in the target language.
However, they may be able to give you all the irregular verbs with their respective
forms. It is not grammar or lexis, but rather grammar through lexis. As students
begin to use lexis they will also learn the grammar pattern.
Through language analysis and research linguists have discovered that native
speakers have many lexical chunks. These lexical chunks are very important for
fluency.

Speakers are more fluent when they have chunks stored. It is more

difficult to store it as vocabulary and or grammar. Lexical chunks allow the L2

learner to speak with more accuracy, fluency and sound more native like.
Language is grammaticalised lexis, not lexicalized grammar.(Lewis 1993)
According to Lewis it is not grammar mistakes that cause confusion in grammar,
but mistakes of lexis.

The important thing is for students to be taught to notice lexical chunks and
collocations. Teachers must raise students awareness. Then students can put
the lexical chunks and collocations into categories.

These categories can be

according to type (collocation, fixed expression etc.) or the students can put them
into a grammar category (adj. + noun).
Lexical approach Theory of language and learning
The lexical view believes that only a few spoken sentences are unique and that the
majority of what we say is in the form of memorized patterns or chunks. Chomsky
believed, however, that it was important for the speaker to create unique sentences
never heard before. Lewis feels that if teachers help students notice and become
aware of lexical structures that are commonly used or repeated the student would
then be able to take that information and combine it with words, make phrases and
ultimately sentences. The learning strategies in this approach are: noticing,
analyzing, clarifying and slot filling. We must first get the students to notice the
lexical chunks. This can be done with listening or reading activities. Once the
students have noticed them they can be analyzed. The students can then classify
them and by classifying them they can see their structure. The students can also
use slot fillers to acquire more lexical chunks and then use those for written and
spoken activities. The idea is to give the students the skills they need to do this
type of process each time they come into contact with the language whether inside
or outside of the classroom.
Lewis (2000) acknowledges that the lexical approach does lack a coherent learning
theory. However he has made several attempts to approve that condition such as
noticing lexical chunks or collocations is a necessary but not sufficient condition for
language input to become intake. According to Krashen one most have a lot of
input through reading to make this approach work. Reading activities take a long
time and are not always possible in the classroom because of time. Also, some
classes are multi-level and it is difficult because some students read faster than
others. The other problem with the lexical approach is that it only refers to one part
of communicative competence.

Resources
Teachers and students can know use many different resources to see lexical
chunks and the most commonly used words in English. I remember several years
ago in the United States that a student told me that he could hold a conversation in
English by just using the verb get. As funny as that may sound it is very true. The
other great thing about the corpora is seeing how people really speak.

As a

second language learner myself I had more than culture shock when I came to
Mexico after studying Spanish for several years and found it difficult to
communicate.

We often find that text book language and the language being

spoken are not so much the same. Also, when we teach young adults they are
really into music and movies and we can not separate culture from language.
Personally, I think I need a class on how to use the corpora it has been very difficult
for me to use, however, I have friends and co-workers who have used it and highly
recommend it.
The lexical approach in the classroom
According to Richards and Rodgers they state that Hill (2000) suggests that
classroom procedures involve (a) teaching individual collocations, (b) making
students aware of collocations, (c) extending what students already know by
adding knowledge of collocation restrictions to known vocabulary, and (d) storing
collocations in a notebook. Collocations are not however all that we can use. We
can also use lexical units such as binomials, trinomials, idioms, similes,
connectives and conversational gambits.
In my lesson plan I decided to work verb + noun collocations related to daily
routines. I will attach the lesson plan, but first I would like to talk a little about it. As
suggested and as Krashen states the best way is through reading, so I choose a
small reading. I found that some students finished much faster than others and
that I really did not need so much time for the gist reading.

I had the same

experience with the comprehension part. I found that what took me the longest

was the clarification part because I also used some descriptive grammar teaching
even though Lewis does not feel that it helps much. The activity that I used did not
come in the book. I got if from the internet and it is an activity from Pearson. I also
took the lesson plan template from an internet resource, however, the lesson plan
is original. I realized that one of the biggest problems is that the book we are using
here does not really go very well with the lexical approach. There are not a lot of
resources like books and course designs that teachers can use to help them with
this approach.

If we compared the Communicative Approach to the Lexical

approach we would notice the difference. Many books claim to be communicative

and you can find tons of activities that are communicative in the internet, but that is
not the case with the Lexical approach and could be one of the reasons that it is
not so popular among teachers. I think to save time in the future I would have
students just write the collocations and not use the descriptive grammar part. I
also think I would have the students work in groups each reading a part of the
whole and working together instead of individually.

AIM:
Materials
Students learn meaning and usage of USB, computer, projector, marker and
target lexis
copies
Sub Aims
Reading comprehension
Noticing lexical structures
Writing practice
Speaking practice
Stage
focus
procedure
time
warmer

S-S

Gist Read

Reading
for S
Comprehension

Students will watch a short video with 10

daily routines and pictures in which the
lexis is present
Whats the main idea of the text? Elicit 5
answer
The
Reading
already
contains 10
comprehension questions. Elicit the

answers
Language
Analysis

Clarification

T-Ss

Controlled
practice

S-S

Production

S-S

The students will be asked to read the

text and look for verbs that talk about
routines they will be asked to underline
or highlight them
Elicit the lexical chunks that the students
found and put them on the board.
Explain meaning when necessary. Elicit
and or provide slot fillers when
necessary. When appropriate, do
pronunciation practice, especially stress
patterns
Students practice using the lexical
chunks in speaking. They will ask yes/no
and information question about their daily
routines. What time do you get up? I get
up at 5 a.m.
The students will be asked to write about
their daily routines using the lexical
chunks. The students will be able to use
the reading as a guide to help them.
Because of time this activity will be
assigned as homework.

10

10-20

5-10

unlimite
d

Homework students will be asked to look for more lexical chunks with have. They
will be asked to classify these chunks according to their pattern.

In the second lesson plan I made the changes that I found necessary for the first
one. I will also attach it. In both activities I used reading, but I think I will use a
listening activity next time to change it a little.

AIM:
Materials
Students learn meaning and usage of USB, computer, projector, marker and
target lexis
books
Sub Aims
Reading comprehension
Noticing lexical structures
Writing practice
Speaking practice
Stage
focus
procedure
time
warmer

S-S

Gist Read

S-S

Reading
for S
Comprehension
Language
Analysis

Clarification

T-Ss

Controlled
practice

S-S

Production

S-S

Students will see pictures of different

places and be asked to use just one
adjective to describe it
Whats the main idea of the text? Elicit
answer
The
Reading
already
contains
comprehension questions. Elicit the
answers
The students will be asked to read the
text and look for adjectives that describe
the neighborhood and they will be asked
to underline or highlight them
Elicit the lexical chunks that the students
found and put them on the board.
Explain meaning when necessary. Elicit
and or provide slot fillers when
necessary. When appropriate, do
pronunciation practice, especially stress
patterns
Students practice using the lexical
chunks in speaking. They will be asked
to describe their favorite place in their
country.
The students will be asked to write about
the place that they chose and of course
to use the adj. + noun collocations seen
and to look for more. This will be done as
homework because time is limited.

10

5
10

10

10-20

5-10

unlimite
d

Homework students will be asked to look for more adj.+ noun collocations. They
will be asked to classify these chunks according to their pattern.

Conclusion
I find that since it is an approach and not a method we can use it with several
methods. I also, agree with research that it is easier for students to recall chunks.
I think that it is not necessary to teach the descriptive grammar because students
probably will not remember it anyway. However, I do agree with Thornberry that
awareness is very important. I liked the two activities that I did, but I have not had
enough experience to really say that I have seen results through this approach. I
do not think it would be my only approach to teaching because we must consider
learning styles. I think that always doing the same thing would get boring and
hinder learning. I would however like to try this approach with music. The one
thing I mentioned and have noticed is the lack of material and teachers aids with
the approach. I think it is easier for students to get the grammar through lexis.
One student stated that he did not want to learn English, he wanted to speak it.
We are now in the time of communicative approaches and I believe that the lexical
approach helps to do that.
In closing I would like to use a statement by Nattinger. Perhaps we should base
our teaching on the assumption that, for a great deal of the time anyway, language
production consists of piecing together the ready-made units appropriate for a
particular situation and that comprehension relies on knowing which of these
patterns to predict in these situations. Our teaching therefore, would center on
these patterns and the ways they can be pieced together, along with the ways they
vary and the situations in which they occur. (Nattinger 1980:341)

References
Lewis, M. 1993. The Lexical Approach. London: Language Teaching
Publications.
Lewis, M. 2000. Learning in the lexical approach. In M. Lewis (ed) , Teaching
Collocation: Further development in the Lexical Approach. London: Teaching
Publications.
Nattinger, J. 1980. A lexical phrase grammar for ESL. TESOL Quarterly 14: 341
Richards, J and Rodgers, T 2001. Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press.
Thornburry, S 1997. About Language. Tasks for teachers of English. Cambridge
Teaching and Training Development. Cambridge University Press.