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The Lexical Approach

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Lexis

Grammar vs lexis or grammar

through lexis?

In this article, informed by the Lexical Approach, I

reflect on grammar instruction in the classroom,

including my own teaching, and make suggestions

on how it can be 'lexicalised'.

I consider the problems with 'traditional' grammar

teaching before arguing that what we actually need

is more grammar input as well as showing how

lexis can provide necessary 'crutches' for the

lexis.

Lexis = vocabulary + grammar

The shift in ELT from grammar to lexis mirrors a

similar change in the attitude of linguists. In the

past linguists were preoccupied with the grammar

of language; however the advances in corpus

linguistics have pushed lexis to the forefront.

The term 'lexis', which was traditionally used by

linguists, is a common word these days and

frequently used even in textbooks.

Why use a technical term borrowed from the

realm of linguistics instead of the word 'vocabulary'?

Quite simply because vocabulary is typically seen

as individual words (often presented in lists)

whereas lexis is a somewhat wider concept and

consists of collocations, chunks and formulaic

expressions. It also includes certain patterns that

were traditionally associated with the grammar of

a language, e.g. If I were you…,

I haven’t seen you for ages etc.

Recognizing certain grammar structures as lexical

items means that they can be introduced much

earlier, without structural analysis or elaboration.

Indeed, since the concept of notions and

functions made its way into language teaching,

particularly as Communicative Language

Teaching (CLT) gained prominence, some

structures associated with grammar started

to be taught lexically (or functionally).

I’d like to is not taught as 'the conditional'

but as a chunk expressing desire.

Similarly many other 'traditional' grammar items

can be introduced lexically relatively early on.

Less grammar or more grammar?

You are, no doubt, all familiar with students who on

one hand seem to know the 'rules' of grammar but

still fail to produce grammatically correct sentences

when speaking or, on the other, sound unnatural

and foreign-like even when their sentences are

grammatically correct.

Michael Lewis, who might be considered the

founder of the Lexical Approach, once claimed

that there was no direct relationship between the

knowledge of grammar and speaking. In contrast,

the knowledge of formulaic language has been

shown by research to have a significant bearing

on the natural language production.

Furthermore, certain grammar rules are practically

impossible to learn. Dave Willis cites the grammar

of orientation (which includes the notoriously

difficult present perfect and the uses of certain

modal verbs) as particularly resistant to teaching.

The only way to grasp their meaning is through

continuous exposure and use.

If grammarians do not even attempt to address

all areas of grammar, how can we, practitioners,

cover all the aspects of grammar in our teaching,

especially if all we seem to focus on is a limited

selection of discrete items, comprised mostly of

tenses and a handful of modal verbs?

It would seem that we need to expose our students

to a lot of naturally occurring language and

frequently draw their attention to various grammar

points as they arise.

For example, while teaching the expression fall

asleep / be asleep you can ask your students:

Don’t make any noise – she’s fallen asleep.

Don’t make any noise – she’s asleep.

What does ‘s stand for in each of these cases

(is or has)?

One of the fathers of the Communicative Language

Teaching Henry Widdowson advocated using lexical

items as a starting point and then 'showing how

they need to be grammatically modified to be

communicatively effective.

For example, when exploring a text with your

students, you may come across a sentence

like this:

They’ve been married for seven years.

You can ask your students: When did they get

married?

How should you change the sentence if the couple

you are talking about is no longer married?

Grammar after lexis

English lessons in a Primary school involve

teaching a lot of chunks,such as Good morning.

How are you?

Where do you live?

However, as learners get older they tend to

memorize less

They 'switch on' their analytical thinking and tend

to break up the language they encounter into

constituent bits. Teaching materials that separate

grammar and vocabulary do not help either.

How can we assist learners in building a

grammar system and, at the same time, help

them crack some 'unlearnable' rules?

Once again the key is to start with examples of

language in use presented as whole chunks

without spending too much time on structural

analysis in the early stages of learning.

For example, the modal verb might with its

daunting variety of uses such as deduction,

permission as well as being the past form of may

is often followed by the verb take to talk about

time. It can therefore be presented as a chunk It

might take a while without attending formally to

all possible uses of might.

Such memorized chunks will later promote

grammar acquisition. Also, it is often easier to

generate similar sentences from ready-made

examples rather than from formal rules. Having

memorized It might take a while, learners can

later produce

It might take a long time

It might take a couple of weeks

It might take even longer

Consider another example.

The memorized pattern he isn’t easy to live with

can be extended to:

isn’t easy to work with

isn’t easy to get on with

isn’t easy to deal with or later

isn’t easy to talk to

Grammar through lexis

Once I was invited to be a guest speaker in a

Primary school.

The fifth-graders, who must have just been taught

question formation in the Past Simple, were firing

questions at me:

‘Did you go to Buckingham Palace?’,

‘Did you see the Queen?’

‘Did you visit the Tower of London’?

While quite impressed with their knowledge of

London sights and architectural icons I could not

help but think that one day they would have to re-

learn what they had been taught.

In all of the above examples it would be more

natural to use the Present Perfect:

Have you been to…?

Have you seen…? etc.

Surely there must be a more natural way of

practicing the Past Simple, for instance:

Did you have a nice weekend?

What did you do?

Did you stay at home all day?

Delaying the introduction of certain structures is an

enduring legacy of structural syllabi where learning

a language, particularly its grammar system, was

seen as itemistic. In other words, gradually moving

from an easier item to a more complex one,

following a linear sequence.

I remember teaching an Intermediate course using

New Headway Intermediate, which was still an

unassailable authority in those days, and where

the Present Perfect does not appear until the

second half of the coursebook. I too stand guilty

of telling my students that “they are not ready for it”

because they have not fully mastered other tenses

or structures.

Unfortunately, many coursebooks still carefully grade

the texts to avoid any encounters with the structures

that have not been formally taught. The practice of

methodically expunging what may be perceived as a

difficult grammar point from textbooks for fear that it

might confuse the learner, is regrettable because it

deprives our students of natural examples they will

later need to build their understanding of this point.

Learning a language is a cyclical process and full

mastery takes a long time to achieve. If we go back

to our “would” example, this modal verb has a variety

of uses. Apart from expressing desire mentioned

above, it can be used to talk about Future in the Past,

hypothetical or imaginary situations and past habits

to name but a few.

Thus, our elementary level students using “would like”

to express desire do not have the full mastery of this

complex modal verb. Yet, it does not prevent them

from using it appropriately in certain situations, i.e.

expressing desire.

Likewise, many seemingly difficult grammar structures

can be introduced to talk about specific functions or

situations. Here are some more examples.

Present perfect

Rather than delaying it until the Intermediate Level,

it can be introduced at the Elementary level to talk

about travel:

Have you been to London / Turkey / South America?

Later on, it can be expanded to the topic of films.

Have you seen Matrix 2?

Past perfect

It can be introduced as a chunk worse than I’d

expected and later extended to than I’d imagined /

than I’d thought / than I’d anticipated.

These instances in no way account for all the

complexities of the Present or Past Perfect but they

will contribute to the understanding of the concept in

the later stages of learning.

Consequently, by the time learners have come to

formally deal with these structures they will have

collected enough examples of them in use. Lengthy

formal explanations may thus become partially

redundant because students will have already

internalized certain structures taught lexically.

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Conclusion

So is there room for grammar instruction in the

classroom?

Certainly yes. But the grammar practice should

always start with the exploitation of lexical items.

Exposing students to a lot of natural and

contextualized examples will offer a

lexical way into the grammar of the language.

To sum up, grammar should play some role in

language teaching but should not occupy a big

part of class time. Instead grammar should be

delivered in small but frequent portions.

Students should be encouraged to collect a

lot of examples of a particular structure before

being invited to analyze it.

Hence, analysis should be preceded by synthesis.

Lastly, language practitioners should bear in mind

that grammar acquisition is an incremental process

which requires frequent focus and refocus on the

items already studied.

The 5 Language skills:

1-Listening Skill /

listening Sub-skills /

Listening Activities.

2-Speaking Skill /

Speaking sub-skills /

Speaking Activities..

3- Reading Skill /

Reading Sub-skills /

Reading Activities.

4-Writing Skill /

Writing Sub-skills /

Writing Activities.

5-Cultural Awareness skill

6-Film Circles

7-Integrating language skills .

8-Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous

Forum cover with title and abstract watercolor design of cattails

English Teaching Forum, 2016

Volume 54, Number 2

1-Intensive Listening Practice

2-Using Freewriting

3-Using Concept Mapping to Teach EFL

4-Reader's Guide

5- Audiovisual Feedback in EFL/ESL

6-Using Language to Foster Community

7-Teaching Techniques

8-My Classroom: Burma

9-Try This: Collaborative Mind Mapping

10-The Lighter Side: A Maps Mind Map

Other Resources

1- Performance of Literacy

2-Engaging Students as Tutors, Trainers,

3-How Thinking Shapes Speaking

The communication practice.

Grammar making it memorable handout.doc.pdf
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presentation 2.pdf
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Grammar making it memorable overview.doc.pdf
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presentation3.pdf
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presentation 4.pdf
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Which Level Dictionary.pdf
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Writing handout.doc.pdf
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Writing overview.doc.pdf
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Writing worksheet.doc.pdf
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