EXAMPLE - VOCABULARY ANALYSIS FOR TPS

Word or phrase/functional language exponent

Rush hour
Meaning
1. Provide the Meaning of the word/phrase/functional exponent
(keep it simple; use a good learner dictionary)
the busy part of the day when towns and cities are crowded, either in the morning when people are
travelling to work, or in the evening when people are travelling home.
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/rush-hour
2. How will the Meaning be conveyed (e.g. picture, story - provide it, definition - provide it, etc).
A picture of a heavy traffic on the road + a sentence: Rush hour starts at 4 pm in New York.
3. After eliciting/conveying meaning, how will you check understanding?
E.g. CCQs and answers
Clines
1. During rush hour, are buses/subway trains empty or full? (full)
2. Does it take more or less time to travel in rush hour? (more)
3. Is rush hour time at night? (no)
4. Is it when people go to or from work? (yes)
5. So is rush hour about transport full of people in the morning and in the evening, when they go
to work or from work?
Form
For words: provide part of speech and relevant features of this part of speech (e.g.
countable/uncountable for nouns, transitive/intransitive for verbs,separable or not for phrasal verbs,
etc.).
For collocations/set phrases: provide parts of speech that constitute the phrase (e.g. V+N)
For idioms or functional exponents: provide the inflexible part as a chunk, and add the break-down of
flexible parts, to show how it is used in a sentence.

Compound noun, written as two separate words (countable, usually singular)

Also, can be used as an adjective (“rush hour traffic”)
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/rush-hour
Pronunciation
IPA for the target language.
Use http://www.e-lang.co.uk/mackichan/call/pron/type.html
Highlight linked sounds/stressed words/intonation, if applicable (e.g. for functional language)
/'rʌʃˌauə/ starts at 4 pm in New York.
Stress on the 1st syllable; ’h’ is silent.

Meaning: Anticipated problems Solutions

(be specific, please) (if you use CCQs, script them here, please)
Context 1: It takes me 1 hour to get to work in the
1. Ss may confuse ‘rush hour’ with ‘a traffic morning and in the evening because of rush hour. But
jam’ at 3 pm, I usually spend not more than 25 minutes.
Ask CCQs:
1. Do rush hours happen every day? (Yes)
2. Is it about any part of the day? (No, mornings
and evenings)
Context 2: I was caught in the traffic jam yesterday -
there were some roadworks there or maybe a car
accident, but it’s not every day.
Ask CCQs:

Form: Potential problems
(be specific, please)
1.Ss may write it with a hyphen (rush-hour)
2. Ss may use it with the article “a”
3. Ss may omit ‘h’ in the way they
pronounce it.
Pronunciation: Potential problems
(be specific, please)
1. Ss may pronounce hour with an /h/
sound.
2. Ss may place the stress on ‘hour’.
1. Do traffic jams hours happen every day? (No)
2. What’s the reason? (Road works or accidents)
Solutions
1. Highlight the gap between the two words on the
board.
2. Explain that it’s commonly used with “the”, as it’s
the busiest time of the day.
3. Highlight on the board that we write ‘h’ but it is
silent.
Solutions:
1. Model the correct pronunciation first, then highlight
silent ‘h’ on the board and drill chorally-individually.
2. Model the correct stress pattern, elicit if ‘hour’ is
stressed and highlight stress on the board. Get Ss to
repeat it chorally and individually.