Practical ideas for

teaching lexical chunks

in a communicative lesson

Practical ideas for teaching lexical

chunks in a communicative lesson

1. What are lexical chunks?

2. Lexical Approach principles

3. What is a communicative lesson?

4. Lexical Approach X Communicative Approach

5. Practical Ideas for teaching lexical chunks in a communicative lesson

6. Conclusion

7. References

Lexical Chunks

“Language consists not of traditional grammar and vocabulary but often of multi-word prefabricated chunks.” (LEWIS, 1997)

Different types of chunks (THORNBURY, 2007)

• Collocations (widely travelled, rich and famous, set the table)

• Phrasal verbs (get up, log on, run out of)

• Idioms, catchphrases and sayings (get cold feet, as old as the hills, mind your

own business, takes one to know one)

• Sentence frames (Would you mind if...?, The thing is... )

• Social formulae (see you later, have a nice day, yours sincerely)

• Discourse markers (frankly speaking, on the other hand, I see your point)

“A number of researchers have noticed that a lot of early language learning takes

the form of chunks (such as this-is-mine, give-me and leave-me-alone). These are

acquired as single unanalysed units. The capacity to use these chunks in

conversational exchanges seems to be an important factor in developing fluency.” (THORNBURY, 1997)

“Fluency is the result of acquisition of a large store of these fixed and semi-fixed pre-fabricated items which are available as the foundation for any linguistic

novelty or creativity.” (LEWIS, 1997)

Why are chunks so important?

Lexical Approach

“Lexical approaches in language teaching seek to develop proposals for syllabus

design and language teaching founded on a view of language in which lexis

plays the central role.” (RICHARDS & RODGERS, 2001)

Lexical Approach Principles

“Language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar”. (LEWIS, 1993)

Holistic nature of language: “no step-by-step linear syllabus can be remotely adequate”. (LEWIS, 1993)

“Language material should be text and discourse, rather than sentence-based.” (LEWIS, 1993)

Input: “Listening, listening and more listening.” (LEWIS, 1993)

“Students need to develop awareness of language to which they are exposed.” (LEWIS, 1993)

“Accurate noticing of lexical chunks, grammatical or phonological patterns all help convert input into intake.” (LEWIS, 1997)

“It is exposure to enough suitable input, not formal teaching, which is the key to increasing the learner’s lexicon.” (LEWIS, 1997)

Do you agree with such principles?

Which one(s) do you prefer?

What is a communicative lesson?

“(CLT) An approach that aims to (a) make communicative

competence the goal of language teaching and (b) develop

procedures of the four language skills that acknowledge the

interdependence of language and communication.” (RICHARDS and

RODGERS, 2001)

“The Communicative Approach in language teaching starts from a

theory of language as communication. The goal of language

teaching is to develop what Hymes (1972) referred to as

‘communicative competence’.” (RICHARDS and RODGERS, 2001)

Socio-linguistic

Competence

Strategic Competence

Discourse Competence

Grammatical Competence

Communicative Competence

(CANALE & SWAIN, 1980)

Lexical Approach X CLT: True or False?

“Phrasebook-type learning with the aquisition of syntax is ultimately impoverished: all chunks but no pineapple.” (THORNBURY, 1998)

“The Lexical Approach is more concerned than some communicative methods with output.” (THORNBURY, 1998)

“There are as yet no sets of procedures to exemplify such an approach (LA) to language learning.” (HARMER, 2007)

“The LA is not an approach, not in the strict sense, since it lacks a coherent theory of learning and its theory of language is not fully enough elaborated to allow for ready implementation in terms of syllabus specification.” (THORNBURY, 1998)

“Activities in CLT typically involves students in a real or realistic communication, where the successful achievement of the communicative task they are performing is not as important as the accuracy of their language use.” (HARMER, 2007)

TRUE

FALSE

FALSE

FALSE

TRUE

“A focus on particles aims to sensitise learners to share meanings of a

group such as carry on, drive on, hang on, go on and come on.”

(THORNBURY, 2007)

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

•Teaching phrasal verbs: Focus on particles

I gotta a feeling (Black eyed peas)

I gotta a feelin' That tonight's gonna be a Good night Tonight's the night Let's live it up I got my money Let's spend it up Go out and smash it Like Oh My God Jump off that sofa Let's get get off I know that we'll have a ball If we get down and go out And just loose it all I feel stressed out I wanna let it go Let's go way out spaced out And loosing all control Fill up my cup Mazal tov Look at her dancing Just take it off Let's paint the town We'll shut it down Let's burn the roof And then we'll do it again

Let's do it, And do it

Let's live it up, And do it Let's do it 'cuz

I gotta a feelin' That tonight's gonna be a good night

Tonight's the night

Let's live it up I got my money

Let's spend it up

Go out and smash it Like Oh My God

Jump off that sofa

Let's get get off

Fill up my cup (Drink) Mazal tov (Le chaim)

Look at her dancing (Move it)

Just take it off Let's paint the town

We'll shut it down

Let's burn the roof

And then we'll do it again What’s the meaning of

the particles in bold?

Let's do it, And do it

Let's live it up, And do it Here we come, Here we go

We gotta rock

Easy come, Easy go

Now we on top

Feel the shot

Body rock

Rock it don't stop

Round and round

Up and down

Around the clock

Monday, Tuesday

Wednesday and Thursday

Friday, Saturday

Saturday and Sunday

Get with us

You know what we say

Party every day

Live it up

Spend it up

Fill up my cup

Go out

Way out

Spaced out

Stressed out

Jump off

Get off

Take it off

To exhaustion or depletion

Completely/ entirely; Used as an

intensifier of the action of a verb

No longer on, attached, or

connected

“Away”

Can you think of other

examples?

I drank it up in a gulp.

My secretary will see you out.

The supplies have run out.

I'm off now, see you tomorrow.

Across

5. Let's go way out spaced out and losing all ________

6. If we get ________ and go out Down

1. I feel ________ out

2. Rock it, don't stop, round and round, up and down ________ the clock

3. I wanna ________ it go

4. I know that we'll have a ________

•Teaching Collocations puzzlemaker.com

√ a nap

√ a shot

√ a clue

√ a word

around lose get feel have let

√ rid

√ lost

√ away

√ over

√ faith

√ one’s

patience

√ interest

√ one’s job

√ alone

√ sth be

√ live

√ down

√ guilty

√ like

√ cold

√ great

√ one’s neck

√ the world

√ the table

√ the corner

HAVE GET LOSE

LET FEEL AROUND

Follow-up Activity

1. When was the last time you had a ball?

2. How often do you get down and ‘lose control’?

3. Is it easy for you to let things go?

4. In which situations do you feel stressed out?

5. How often do you work/ study around the clock?

• Teaching Collocations

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

When teaching tenses such as “Will” (or “Present Continuous”) for the future,

focus on their use in a series of ‘archetypical utterances’, such as (HARMER,

2007):

I’ll give you a ring, I’ll be in touch, I’ll see what I can do, I’ll be back in a

minute.

I’m seeing the doctor tomorrow morning, I’m meeting my friends on Saturday

night, I’m flying to London next week, I’m staying in a five-star hotel.

•Practice of grammar structures

“We need the report for next Monday, tops.”

“Don’t forget to tell me whether you’re coming or not.”

“Hold on a second, ...”

“We’ll miss you.”

I’ll give you a ring I’ll be in touch

I’ll see what I can do I’ll be back in a minute.

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

•Practice of grammar structures

I’ll see what I can do.

I’ll give you a ring.

I’ll be back in a minute.

I’ll be in touch.

Find someone who...

1. Is seeing the doctor in the next two weeks.

2. Is meeting their friends on Saturday night.

3. Is traveling this month.

4. Is having people round for dinner this week.

5. Is working late tomorrow.

Ask follow-up questions...

(“when are you going?”, “where are you staying?”, “why?”, “are you flying?”, etc)

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

•Practice of grammar structures

I’m afraid I’m a bit tied up just now.

Can I have a word?

I was wondering if I could see you for a moment.

Practical Ideas

(Grammatical Competence)

•Pronunciation – linking sounds/ intonation

Polite Interruptions

Backchaining

Practical Ideas

(Discourse Competence)

Dictogloss is a dictation activity where learners are required to reconstruct a short

text by listening and noting down key words, which are then used as a base for

reconstruction.

•Dictogloss

Reconstruct the text!

A dictogloss is similar to a dictation, but instead of _____ _____ what

they hear _____ _____ _____, students listen to the whole passage, then

work in groups or pairs to reconstruct the text. Students then compare

their reconstruction to the original text and discuss differences. A

dictogloss _____ _____ ____ teens and adults and is useful for noticing

lexis in general. It allows for _____ students’ _____ of language patterns,

_____ _____ meaning and form and fosters autonomy and listening skills.

Practical Ideas

(Discourse Competence)

As a follow-up, you can ask students to discuss some reflective questions, such as:

Practical Ideas

(Discourse Competence)

4. Do you think you can use them in different contexts?

“By encouraging learners to observe and analyse language for themselves we are

reinforcing their natural tendency and ability to make sense of language and to

systematize it. We are encouraging learners to learn for themselves.” (WILLIS & WILLIS, 1998)

1. Were you able to remember only the message or the whole expressions?

2. Which strategies did you use to do the activity?

3. Are you able to recall some of the expressions?

Practical Ideas

(Strategic Competence)

Discussion Language > Giving opinions

• Meaningful and personalized drilling

“One argument in favor of teaching chunks is that ...”

NOTICE LANGUAGE PATTERNS

“One argument in favor of __________ is that ...”

EXPOSE STUDENTS TO AUTHENTIC MATERIAL

“One argument in favor of __________ is that ...”

TEACH CHUNKS

(it helps students become more fluent).”

Practical Ideas

(Strategic Competence)

ALL I’M SAYING IS THAT ...

•Meaningful and personalized drilling

“Language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar”.

FAIR ENOUGH, BUT I STILL THINK THAT ...

“So you think there shouldn’t be a linear syllabus.”

I’VE NEVER REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THAT

Practical Ideas

(Strategic Competence)

THAT’S AN INTERESTING POINT

•Meaningful and personalized drilling

“The LA is not an approach, not in the strict sense, since it lacks a coherent

theory of learning and its theory of language is not fully enough elaborated

to allow for ready implementation in terms of syllabus specification.”

IT’S HARD TO SAY

Practical Ideas

(Strategic Competence)

Agreeing Disagreeing

I see what you mean. Oh, I wouldn’t say that.

I suppose that’s true. I don’t know about that.

That’s a good point. Well, I’m still not convinced.

Practical Ideas

(Sociolinguistic Competence)

• Register

Which of the following letters is

formal/ informal? Why?

FORMAL

Hello Laura

Dear Laura

Hi Laura

Best wishes

Take care

Yours sincerely

Bye for now

Best regards

Yours

Love

See you

Practical Ideas

(Sociolinguistic Competence)

•Register > Dictation

INFORMAL QUITE INFOMAL

Dear Laura

•Register > Making invitations and arrangements

Mark these expressions formal (F) or informal (I):

1. I’m writing you to invite you to go to the cinema.

2. Would you like to go to the cinema with me?

3. I’m afraid I’m busy tomorrow.

4. Unfortunately, I am busy tomorrow.

5. Would it be convenient to meet on Friday evening?

6. What about meeting outside Pizza World?

7. I’d love to see the film.

8. I would very much like to see the film.

9. That would be wonderful.

10. That sounds great.

11. I look forward to seeing you on Friday.

12. See you on Friday.

Practical Ideas

(Sociolinguistic Competence)

Students write an invitation using the chunks just seen. Then, they swap their

invites and write a reply to each other.

“The quantity of encounters with the items is a critical factor. (...) learners

need exposure, and plenty of it, rather than rules.” (THORNBURY, 2007)

Practical Ideas

(Sociolinguistic Competence)

•Register > Making invitations and arrangements > Follow-up activity

“The more decisions the learner makes about a word, the greater the

depth of processing.” (THORNBURY, 2007)

If time allows, give students the opportunity to do some peer correction and

even rewrite their texts.

Watch a snippet from “The Big Bang Theory” with no sound.

What happens in the scene? Is it a formal or informal situation?

Practical Ideas

(Sociolinguistic Competence)

•Register

Watch the video again, with sound. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is Howard late?

2. How do Sheldon and Missy know each other?

3. Accoding to Missy, why does Sheldon think she is isn’t funny?

4. Why doesn’t Rajesh say his name?

Because he’s working on a project.

They are twin siblings.

Because he thinks she has no sense of humour.

Because he’s shy.

S: Hello.

L: Oh, hey buddy!

S: Buddyyyyyyy...

H: Sorry I’m late, I’m working on a project that may take me up on the next space

shuttle...

S: How can you be late, I wasn’t expecting you at all.

H: Nobody ever expects me, sometimes you just look and BAM! – Howard Wollowitz.

M: Hey.

L: Sheldon, are you gonna introduce us... ?

S: Oh, alright...this is Missy. Missy this is Leonard and Rajesh and you’ve already met Howard.

M: It’s nice to meet you. L: Me too. You smell awesome.

H: Yep.

L: So, how do you two...know each other?

M: Oh, he once spent 9 months with my legs wrapped around his head...

L: Ahn, excuse me... ?

S: She’s my twin sister, she thinks she’s funny, but frankly I’ve never been able to see it.

M: It’s because you have no measurable sense of humor, Shelly.

S: How exactly would one measure a sense of humour? A humourmometer?

H: Well, I think you’re delightfully droll. Or as the French say, Très Drôle.

M: Okay, so let me see if I got this. Leonard, Howard and… I’m sorry what was your name again?

S: Rajesh.

The Big Bang Theory

Season 1, episode 15

S: Hello.

L: Oh, hey buddy!

S: Buddyyyyyyy...

H: Sorry I’m late, I’m working on a project that may take me up on the next space

shuttle...

S: How can you be late, I wasn’t expecting you at all.

H: Nobody ever expects me, sometimes you just look and BAM! – Howard Wollowitz.

M: Hey.

L: Sheldon, are you gonna introduce us... ?

S: Oh, alright...this is Missy. Missy this is Leonard and Rajesh and you’ve already met Howard.

M: It’s nice to meet you. L: Me too. You smell awesome.

H: Yep.

L: So, how do you two...know each other?

M: Oh, he once spent 9 months with my legs wrapped around his head...

L: Ahn, excuse me... ?

S: She’s my twin sister, she thinks she’s funny, but frankly I’ve never been able to see it.

M: It’s because you have no measurable sense of humor, Shelly.

S: How exactly would one measure a sense of humour? A humourmometer?

H: Well, I think you’re delightfully droll. Or as the French say, Très Drôle.

M: Okay, so let me see if I got this. Leonard, Howard and… I’m sorry what was your name again?

S: Rajesh.

The Big Bang Theory

Season 1, episode 15

In groups of four, role-play the situation, using the clues below as a guide:

Hey buddy

I’m sorry, I’m late

This is...

It’s nice to meet you

How do you two know each other?

You have no sense of humor

Let me see if I got this

I’m sorry, what was your name again?

• Role-play

Practical Ideas

(Discourse Competence)

Grammatical competence (lexical items, pronunciation, intonation)

‘Holistic nature of language’

(LEWIS, 1993) Integration and Interaction

Sociolinguistic competence (greeting in informal situations)

Strategic competence (how to check information)

Discourse competence (reformulation of a dialogue)

Last, but not least...

Finish End up

Arrive Show up

Whatever Never mind

Wait Hold on

Discover Find out

• When correcting students’ oral or written production, remember to

reformulate some utterances, in order to help them sound more natural.

Last, but not least...

• and contextualized in sentences/ examples.

• Ask students to keep a ‘lexical book’, where they are going

to record the new chunks.

• The chunks should be organized around themes;

Conclusion

• Fluency

• Accuracy

• Autonomy (consciousness raising)

• Improved language skills, specially listening

• Integration

Reminders

• Become more aware of phrase and collocations yourself

• Make your students aware of phrases and collocations

• Keep an eye on usefulness and be aware of overloading students

• Feed in phrases on a ‘little but often’ basis.

• Introduce phrases in context, but drill them as short chunks

• Point out patterns in phrases

• Ask students to keep written records of phrases/ chunks

• Reinforce, recycle and use the phrases

• Expose students’ to authentic material

In trios, list 3 things that you

either learned or would like to

highlight from this session.

References

HARMER, Jeremy. 2007. The practice of English language teaching. Pearson Longman.

LEWIS, Michael. 1993. The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publications.

LEWIS, Michael. 1997. Implementing the Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publications.

RICHARDS; RODGERS. 2001. Approaches and methods in language teaching. CUP.

THORNBURY, Scott. 2008. How to teach speaking. Pearson Longman.

THORNBURY, Scott. 1998. The Lexical Approach: a journey without maps? In: MET, vol 7, no 4.

THORNBURY, Scott. 2007. How to teach vocabulary. Pearson Longman.

WILLIS & WILLIS. 1998. Challenge and change in language teaching. Macmillan Heinemann.

Thank you!

Vania Ricarte Lucas

vanricarte@hotmail.com