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Date Posted: 16:48:57 07/08/03 Tue
Author: Mônica Alvarenga
Subject: Task 10


07/08 /2003

Assessment 10
Ninth class – July 7th to July 11th
Mônica Alvarenga

1- Explain what a lexical approach is. Describe its main characteristics.

The Lexical Approach can be summarized in a few words: language consists not of traditional grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks. It is an evaluation of the theory and practice of ELT with a clear statement of a new direction. It develops current thinking, synthesizing the best insights of previous theory, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis and modern approaches to grammar. The practical implications for methods, materials and teacher training are fully developed. Some concepts are to be thought when discussing the lexical approach they are;
 Re-definition of grammar and vocabulary
 Increased emphasis on collocation
 Implications for methodology
The principals of the lexical approach are;
 The grammar/vocabulary dichotomy is invalid
 Collocation is used as an organizing principle
 Successful language is a wider concept than accurate language
 The Observe-Hypothesis-Experiment cycle replaces the Present-Practice-produce paradigm.
 Most importantly, language consists of grammaticalized lexis - not lexicalised grammar.

According to Lewis, the lexical approach concentrates on developing learners' proficiency with lexis, or words and word combinations. It is based on the idea that an important part of language acquisition is the ability to comprehend and produce lexical phrases as unanalyzed wholes, or "chunks," and that these chunks become the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language traditionally thought of as grammar (Lewis, 1993, p. 95).
Activities used to develop learners' knowledge of lexical chains include the following:
 Intensive and extensive listening and reading in the target language.
 First and second language comparisons and translation—carried out chunk-for-chunk, rather than word-for-word—aimed at raising language awareness.
 Repetition and recycling of activities, such as summarizing a text orally one day and again a few days later to keep words and expressions that have been learned active.
 Guessing the meaning of vocabulary items from context.
 Noticing and recording language patterns and collocations.
 Working with dictionaries and other reference tools.
Working with language corpuses created by the teacher for use in the classroom or accessible on the Internet—such as the—to research word partnerships, preposition usage, style, and so on.
In conclusion the Lexical Approach is a serious attempt at revaluation for the individual teacher and the profession. It is a book for teachers, trainers and anyone involved in the teaching of English language. Teachers using the Lexical Approach will not analyze the target language in the classroom, but will be more inclined to concentrate learners' attention upon these multi-word prefabricated chunks.
Bibliography
http://www.ltpwebsite.com/lexicalapproach.htm
http://www.ltpwebsite.com/implementing.htm
http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej09/r10.html

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