Hi Alastair, first of all thank you for your comments on the exam practice, I found the last part of

Paper 2 task 2 quite difficult, but I will follow your advice of dividing the answers into 3 parts. With
regards to Lsa4, I was thinking of doing phrasal verbs with my intermediate level students. In the
BE do I have to talk about multi-word verbs (phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs) and then focus
more on phrasal verbs or can I avoid talking about prepositional verbs? I'm just thinking about word
count. I am still unsure about the lesson but the basic outline is that I will present some phrasal
verbs in a reading - maybe authentic -, students will match the phrasal verbs to their meaning and
then they will use the phrasal verbs in a speaking activity. This is just a general idea but do you
think I'm on the right track? Thank you in advance, Cristina
Hi Cristina, I would suggest in the intro/defining of scope you mention multi word verbs, showing
you know about both types, then limit to phrasal verbs and make clear this is due to word count
issues. Your outline for the lesson sounds very sensible.

Hi Tillat, my essay title for LSA 3 is 'Helping learners understand and use phrasal
verbs'. Do you think this OK or too broad? Also, just a quick question about the
Analysis section for lexis: is this similar to grammar in that we analyse meaning, form
and pronunciation or should we be thinking about the way L1 users recognise/ learn/
and use the lexis? (similar to the skills assignment) Many thanks in advance, Amy. less
Amy Gilbert CP / Group 4 03-02-16 20:13
Hi Amy - I think focusing on phrasal verbs is fine - the only way to narrow this is by limiting it to a
type (which makes it too grammery) or topic (which could be too narrow). Just be mindful that this
is a lexis based essay so keep any references to the grammar part of things to a minimum. The
analysis should include some generalisable rules about pronunciation and form (but don't go into
too much detail here). Certainly you could include points about Use (but in the analysis you are
thinking not about learners and how they learn but more generally about the meaning and use of this
area of lexis, so for example, thinking about opaque vs. transparent MWVs, the register, the
meaning sometimes associated with the particles, etc. Reference to learners and how they
recognise/learn/use would form part of the problems and solutions sections

Phrasal verbs - Natalie Hi Natalie Great to see you are really thinking about the staging. When/if
you give the phrasal verbs is entirely dependent on how much help you think they will need and
what your aim of that stage is. So, if you are using pictures to elicit back a story you have told them
you may want to a) test what they heard / remember / know and just try to get them to retell with the
pictures OR b) give them some help in using the phrasal verbs to retell a story and so give them the
phrasal verbs to match to pictures before retelling the story. However you do it depends on your aim
and the needs of your learners so you will have to decide what will be best. Good to see that you are
checking understanding with CCQs. You can do this as you suggest above whilst eliciting back the
story or after they have tried to retell the story etc - as long as you do it BEFORE they have to use
the language more freely :) So, your ideas above sound logical. I assume you are introducing the
phrasal verbs in your story so your question just seems to be about when you clarify and focus on
the Phrasal verbs, (meaning, form and pron). As you say above, after the story telling is logical but
how you do it is up to you :) Get back to me if you need more help :) Very best, Sheena
It's good to know that you've started reading around your chosen topic, Dragica. Phrasal verbs is, as
you say, quite a broad topic, but it can be done successfully. You would need to look at form in
terms of transitive/intransitive etc but can keep this reasonably brief as you will want to focus

largely on meaning/use. You can only really narrow down to specific verbs in the lesson itself, I
think. Collocations also is a broad area, but limiting to verb+ noun collocations would be sensible.
Again this is a manageable topic. Reading around the lexical approach is sensible (including
Implementing the Lexical Approach for more practical ideas). Thornbury 'How to Teach
Vocabulary' is useful and also Gairns and Redman 'Working with Words' (older but very accessible).
Have you looked at the reading list too? Re focusing on a particular genre, Rob, you will need to be
rather careful - is there particular lexis that you would expect to find in a news report, for example?
I think 'being formulaic', if I understand you, is really what is required in the analysis section of the
BE - but then by all means use a text in the lesson - that makes sense.