The Lexical Approach

Use – spoken language -vocabulary -Input – process -coherence -competence -product -accuracy

exercises -usage -learning -intake - receptive skills – written language – performance -productive

skills – acquisition – grammar – value - signification - cohesion - fluency exercises

1- Written language

2- …INPUT……is the language the students are presented with.

3- A: telephone! Can you answer it?
B: I can’t. I’m having a shower. Cohesion
4- Learning is the conscious result of the study of a language.
5- Teacher: “Here is your first essay, you have got a 5” Product
6- INTAKE is the language the student is able to integrate
7- Listening and reading RECEPTIVE SKILLS
8- Use like / don’t like
Burgers: I like burgers DRILL USAGE
9- When John told Ann he was leaving her and the children, he killed her. VALUE
10- PERFORMANCE is the actual use of language.
11- A: “Telephone”
B: “I’m having a shower” COHERENCE
12- In accuracy exercises students are expected to use correct sentences.
13- I took your keys GRAMMAR
S + V + Object
14-

Spoken language

15- Speaking and Writing productive skills

16- Take + your time
+ a picture
+ the children to school. Vocabulary. collocations
17- Teacher: “I have seen your draft. Have a look at the comments, improve on it and hand
it back” Process
 18- A: “Let’s go to Burger King”
B: “I don’t like burgers” USE
19- In Fluency exercises students are expected to use the language creatively. Mistakes are
likely to appear, but they should not be penalized.
20- The perfect knowledge of the ideal speaker – listener in a homogeneous community.
Competence
21- They had a big fight and he killed her. Signification
22- Acquisition: the unconscious progressive mastery of a system of a language.

Complete the following chart with the words / phrases discussed above

Traditional language teaching Communicative language Teaching

Accuracy Fluency
USAGE USE SKILLS
Signification value
product process
Cohesion coherence
Input Intake
Written language Spoken language

Complete the following definitions with these terms.

–––

1- …… syllabus …… the content of a teaching programme. It is what is to be learnt

2- ……… method ………… it has to do with how the teaching is to be conducted.
3- …… approach –…… the theoretical basis that accounts for the “what and how”.
4- Model language ……. language presented to the student as examples of English can be
used.
5- …… target language ….. language which the student will ultimately be able to use.
 The Lexical Approach

Michael Lewis wrote his book “The Lexical Approach” in 1993. When he wrote it his intention
was to offer an applicable methodology book. He says that teachers should decide according
to their criteria whether:

 It can be fully implemented.

 Lexical Insights can be incorporated in the day-to-day teaching.
 It cannot be implemented.

Evidently in this approach the role of lexis in a language is highlighted as well as its
contribution to language pedagogy.

If we take into consideration the standard views about what a language is, we know that:

 Language consists of:

o Grammar (structure)
o Vocabulary (words)

M. Lewis disagrees with this view. His key principle is that language consists of:

Grammaticalised lexis

If I have enough money, I’ll buy a smartphone

IF clause+ verb in the present. Main clause : Future

and not Lexicalised grammar

IF clause+ verb in the present. Main clause : Future

If I have enough money, I’ll buy a smartphone

Obviously according to this approach more attention should be paid to lexis. M. Lewis also
considers that language consists of chunks. Combinations of these chunks produce coherent
texts. These chunks can be of different types:

1. Single words: These are words that can stand alone. A single substitution brings about
a change in meaning.
e.g., Can you give me your pen?/ruler?/pencil?
2. Multi-word items: These are also called mini idioms: combinations that are not
reversible.
 e.g., bread and butter – By the way – To and fro.
3. Expressions:
Semi-fixed : Expressions with slots which may be filled in a limited number of
ways.
e.g., I haven’t seen you + slot filler: Time expressions with for or since.
Fully fixed: For example, greetings, idioms, phrases such as thank you, etc.

M. Lewis pays special attention to collocations , the phenomenon whereby certain words
frequently co-occur in natural text.

E.g., I missed the bus

Collocations with do or make.

He divides collocations into two groups:

1. Fully fixed: e.g., To catch a cold

2. Relatively fixed: These are slots that can be filled by a limited number of
partner-words: We had a _________ time.

Basic terminology used by M. Lewis in his book The Lexical Approach

 Complete the following sentences with one of the following words.

COLLOCATIONS – DE-LEXICALISED – INSTITUTIONALIZED UTTERANCES –

SENTENCE HEADS – SENTENCE – SYNOPSIZING – DISCOURSE – VALUE-SYNONYMS –
HIGH-CONTENT – LEXICAL - TEXT

1. Words that carry very little meaning are called de-lexicalized word.
2. Communicative power is most rapidly increased by expanding students’ vocabularies
but particularly high content words.
3. When relatively high content nouns are introduced, it should be natural to introduce
with them verbs and adjectives which form powerful or relatively fixed collocations.
4. Students could usefully be offered a group of sentences for comprehension and
reflection. These INSTITUTIONALIZED UTTERANCES could be both used to increase
communicative power and as a resource. The analysis of those sentences would
provide a basis for a gradual perception of pattern.
 5. Well chosen groups of SENTENCE HEADS exemplify the frequent or probable pattern
of English.
6. Supra sentential LEXICAL linking is an important cohesive device in spontaneous
conversation.
7. A central requirement of the lexical Approach is that language should be discourse and
text rather than sentence based.
8. Value synonyms are alternative language items used in spontaneous speech.
9. In reported speech, the reporter summarises or synopsises the whole event lexically
and so requires an adequate repertoire of synopsises verbs.

Final Comments:

1. The importance of lexis and probable language should be taken into account.
2. The role of grammar should not be neglected but less attention is to be paid to
sentence grammar.
3. Uncollocated nouns should be avoided.
4. Probable rather than possible language.
5. Organizing learners’ notebooks to reveal patterns and retrieval.
6. The language which learners may meet outside the classroom.

Task1.

Complete each of these in three different ways if you can

1. Absent from……………………………….
2. Guilty of………………………………………
3. A bar of………………………………………
4. Suspicious of……………………………..
5. It’s not relevant to the present situation.
6. We had a ……………………..time.
7. It consists…………………………….
8. It was very………………………….equipped
9. Prices fell……………………..
10. Things went……………………..wrong
Task 2

Do you consider the following sentences

a. Correct possible sentences in English?

b. Different from each other in any ways? If so, what differences seem important?
c. 1. I’ll see you on Monday.
d. It takes a while to settle into a new house.
e. Are you all right? You don’t look very well.
f. I’m going to buy the blue one even if it is a bit more expensive.
g. It’s clouding over.
h. We need to do something about the broken pane in that window.
i. It’s time we were on our way.
j. She tried to warn them but they went ahead and did it anyway.
k. Don’t worry, I’m sure it ’ll turn up.

Bibliography

Lewis, Michael. The Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications, 1993.

Lewis, Michael. Implementing the Lexical Approach. Hove: Language Teaching Publications,
1995.