Teaching Lexis
Teaching Lexis
&
Mariana Méndez
Teaching Didactics I
Lexical items
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Core vocabulary set “What defines lexical
competence in a language
about 2,000 words is (...) how familiar that
person is with the
(over 80% of all of the words different senses or
in spoken and written texts) meaning of those words.”
Díaz & Painter-Farrell
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Core words in English (O’Keeffe, 2012)
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Two factors make core words powerful
The ability of the same form The ability of the same form
to appear in many meanings. to combine with other forms
to make new meanings.
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What lexis
should we
teach?
Factors to consider
✗ Communicative needs &
appropriacy
✗ Ease
✗ Frequency
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Which are the most frequent words
in English?
(Cook, 2008)
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“...you are more likely to remember a word
you meet every day than one you only meet
once. But there are many other factors
that make students learn words. A swear
word ‘****’ said accidentally when the
teacher drops the tape recorder is likely to
be remembered by the students for ever,
even if it is never repeated”. (Cook, 2008)
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Getting to
know words
What should we teach?
Grammatical properties Forms of the word
✗ Grammatical category ✗ Spelling
✗ Pronunciation
✗ Irregularities
✗ Possible and impossible Lexical properties
structures ✗ Collocations
✗ Appropriateness
✗ Idiosyncratic grammatical
information Meanings
✗ Word building ✗ Denotation: General meaning
✗ Connotation: Specific meanings
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Vocabulary is everywhere
“Effective acquisition of
vocabulary can never be just the
learning of individual words and
their meanings in isolation”.
(Cook, 2008)
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Aspects of
Meaning
Components of Lexical relations Prototypes
meaning
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Levels of vocabulary acquisition
Basic-level terms Superordinate terms Subordinate terms
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Syntactic relations
✗ Collocations
✗ Idioms and phrasal verbs
✗ Formulaic language
✗ Lexical chunks
O’Keeffe, 2012.
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Understanding
and learning
vocabulary
Strategies for understanding
✗ Guessing from context
✗ Using dictionaries (monolingual)
✗ Relating the word to similar words in
another language (link to cognates)
✗ Deducing meaning from the form
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Word formation
✗ Prefixes
✗ Suffixes
✗ Two-word combinations
✗ Single compound word
✗ Two separate compound words,
sometimes hyphenated
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Strategies for remembering
✗ Repetition (discouraged)
✗ Contextualizing meaning and use
✗ Linking to personal significance or emotions
✗ Making connections with background knowledge
✗ Organizing words in meaningful groups
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Other recommendations
✗ Make an impact, a good “first impression”.
✗ Tell a memorable story.
✗ Associate the word with other ideas.
✗ Propose activities to use the words to communicate
meaning.
✗ Alternate with other activities.
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https://youtu
.be/x8BcSND
HfTw
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Thank you!
Dánisa Garderes & Mariana Méndez
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References
✗ Cook, V. (2008). Second language learning and language
teaching. London: Hodder Education.
✗ Crystal, D. (2011, Oct. 14). From Riddle to Twittersphere:
David Crystal tells the story of English in 100 words.
Retrieved from
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8824676/From-Riddle-to-Twittersph
ere-David-Crystal-tells-the-story-of-English-in-100-words.html
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References (Cont.)
✗ Hadfield, J. & Hadfield Ch. (2008). Introduction to teaching
English. New York: Oxford University Press.
✗ O’Keefe, A. (2012). Vocabulary instruction. In: Burns, A. &
Richards, J. (Eds.). The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and
Practice in Second Language Teaching. 236 - 245. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
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