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Week 1 - Lexical Resource in Context

The document discusses the lexical approach to language teaching. It defines key terms like lexical item and presents Michael Lewis's taxonomy of lexical items. The taxonomy includes words, parts of words, phrasal verbs, collocations, idioms, and other multi-word lexical units. It also discusses using context clues to facilitate vocabulary development, listing types of context clues like definition clues, example clues, and referent clues.

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Kee Li Li
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146 views

Week 1 - Lexical Resource in Context

The document discusses the lexical approach to language teaching. It defines key terms like lexical item and presents Michael Lewis's taxonomy of lexical items. The taxonomy includes words, parts of words, phrasal verbs, collocations, idioms, and other multi-word lexical units. It also discusses using context clues to facilitate vocabulary development, listing types of context clues like definition clues, example clues, and referent clues.

Uploaded by

Kee Li Li
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COURSE : LANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT II
CLASS : PPISMP TESL SK SEM 2
LECTURER : MISS KEE LI LI
LESSON 1: LEXICAL RESOURCE IN CONTEXT

Vocabulary Development
THE LEXICAL APPROACH

Key figures:

Dave Willis – “Lexical Syllabus” - (1990)

Michael Lewis – “The Lexical Approach” - (1993)


“Implementing the Lexical
Approach” – (1997)
MAIN FEATURES OF LEXICAL APPROACH
 LEXIS, rather than grammar, plays a primary
role in the acquisition of language.
 LEXIS is not just vocabulary.
 CHUNKS (lexical prefabricated items) represent
a significant portion of a native speaker’s spoken
and written output. Therefore, these chunks of
language are vital for fluent production.
WHAT IS LEXICAL ITEM?

 A lexical item is a single word, a part of a word,


or a chain of words that forms the basic elements
of a language's lexicon.
TAXONOMY OF LEXICAL ITEMS
 Michael Lewis presents this Taxonomy of Lexical
Items:

 Words, e.g. squirrel, branch


 Parts of words, e.g. -s in kites, -er in employer, non- in
nondescript, -est in quietest
 Phrasal verbs, e.g. put on or get off
 Polywords, e.g. by the way, inside out
 Collocations, e.g. pay attention, absolutely convinced.
TAXONOMY OF LEXICAL ITEMS (CONT…)
 Institutionalised utterances or Fixed expressions, e.g. I'll get it,
We'll see, That'll do, If I were you, Would you like a cup of
coffee?
 Idioms, e.g. take the plunge, eat a horse, a bitter pill to swallow

 Sayings, e.g. The early bird gets the worm, a friend in need is a
friend indeed
 Sentence frames and heads, e.g. That is not as...as you think, The
problem was…
 Text frames, e.g., In this paper we explore...; First and
foremost...; In addition to this...; Finally ....
WORD CHOICE IN CONTEXT

 There is simply no way to make a good choice


without thinking about the context in which the
word is being used.
VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT IN CONTEXT

 Using context clues to infer or deduce the


meaning of unfamiliar words is an effective way
to develop a person’s vocabulary.
TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES

 Yourknowledge of the world


Punctuation clues

Definition clues

Example clues

Comparison clues

Contrast clues

Referent clues
YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

 Often you can guess the meaning of a word just by using your
own knowledge of the world and how things work. For
example, look at this sentence:
 I didn’t sleep well because my neighbour’s dog was yapping
all night.
 You can guess the meaning of yapping by thinking about your

knowledge of dogs and your knowledge of sleep. How can


dogs wake you up? They can jump on you or make a noise.
Because this is the neighbour’s dog, not yours, it must make a
noise. So, you can guess that yapping is some kind of noise,
probably like barking.
PUNCTUATION CLUES

 Punctuation clues are one of the easiest kinds of


context clues. With punctuation clues, the
meaning of a word is explained immediately after
the word between brackets, commas or dashes.
Look at the following example:
 Comma:
 A tornado, a violent storm of twisting wind,
struck Edmonton and caused a lot of damage.
DEFINITION CLUES

 A word’s meaning is often given by including its


definition in the sentence. The definition is linked to
the word with a linking word, usually a verb. Here
are some examples of linking words: is, was, are,
means, i.e. (that is), involves, is called, that is and
resembles.
 Look at the following examples:

 A cane resembles a walking stick.

 Giggling involves laughing in a silly way.


EXAMPLE CLUES

 Example clues give you examples of the unknown word. You


must figure out what the examples have in common in order to
figure out the meaning of the word. Examples are usually
introduced by expressions like these: such as, for instance,
including, for example, and like. Look at this one:
 Large corporations like Nestle, Shell Oil, Sime Darby are often
less innovative than smaller ones.
 This sentence gives you 3 examples of large corporations.
Think about the examples. What do they have in common?
They are all large companies. So, a corporation must be a
company.
COMPARISON CLUES

 Comparison clues show that two or more things are alike.


Words like similar, as well as, both and likewise show
that comparison is possible. Look at this example:
 Washing windows is a tedious job. Similarly, cleaning the
oven is very boring.
 The word similarly shows that there is something the
same in the two sentences. Washing windows and
cleaning the oven are different, so the similarity must be
in the description. We can guess that tedious and boring
must have similar meanings.
CONTRAST CLUES

 With contrast clues, you use the opposite of known information to


figure out the meaning of an unknown word. Connecting words like
however, yet, on the other hand, instead of, but, while and although
are used to show that meanings are opposite. Look at this example:
 Although some old people abhor change, most of them enjoy new
things and experiences.
 In this sentence the word although shows that there is some opposite
meaning in the two parts of the sentence. Both parts are about old
people and their attitudes to change. The opposite meaning must be
between abhor and enjoy. Abhor probably means the opposite of
enjoy. So, abhor probably means dislike.
REFERENT CLUES

 Referent clues is when an unknown word is referred to


(mentioned) again using a synonym or explanation of the
word. Synonyms often follow words like this, that, these,
those, or the. Look at this example:
 She yelled out the window at her neighbour’s dog. Then she
said to her husband, “That hound is always waking me up at
night with its barking. Tomorrow I’m going to complain.”
 In this example, that comes before the unknown word. This
suggests that a hound has already been mentioned. We can
guess that that hound refers to the dog. So, a hound is
probably a dog.
THANK YOU

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