Helen Osimo The importance and benefits of teaching lexical chunks has been well-documented, but can some sort of order be imposed on an area which is so amorphous? This presentation suggests criteria for identifying idiomatic chunks in written and spoken texts, ways to explain their usage and to organize them for teaching.

1. Coming to terms with lexical chunks: Identifying, using and teaching . Helen Osimo, University of Haifa Oranim Academic College of Education, Israel [email_address]

2. Jerusalem is lost in translation !! Tourism officials in Israel did little to sell the city of Jerusalem as a must-see for visitors when a brochure suggested it did not exist. The sightseeing pamphlet was translated from Hebrew to English and read:

3. "Jerusalem - there's no such city !", instead of the slogan: "Jerusalem - there's no city like it !". Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5364192.stm Published: 2006/09/20 14:27:14 GMT (taken from Maariv)

7. and/or 2. semantically opaque in varying degrees – at least one component in the unit does not convey its conventional meaning.

13. Julia and I go way back. The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs. Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck, and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it. After all, we've been through a lot over the years: two books, reams of journalism, and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it, we're partners because we understand each other. In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot. My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter!

14. Julia and I go way back . The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs . Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck , and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it : After all, we've been through a lot over the years : two books, reams of journalism and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it , we're partners because we need each other . In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot . My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter !

18. Julia and I go way back . The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs . Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck , and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it : After all, we've been through a lot over the years : two books, reams of journalism and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it , we're partners because we need each other . In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot . My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter !

19. Julia and I go way back . The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs . Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck , and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it : After all, we've been through a lot over the years : two books, reams of journalism and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it , we're partners because we need each other . In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot . My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter !

20. Julia and I go way back . The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs . Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck , and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it : After all, we've been through a lot over the years : two books, reams of journalism and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it , we're partners because we need each other . In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot . My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter !

21. Julia and I go way back . The relationship isn’t perfect and we’ve had our ups and downs . Sometimes she makes me furious and I am ashamed to admit that once or twice I've even knocked her about a bit. What drives me crazy is the way her ‘P’ keeps getting stuck , and that now and again her shift becomes loose. I never see eye to eye with her about her messy ribbons either, nor the fact that every intimate nook and cranny is constantly clogged up with dust. But Julia and I make the best of it : After all, we've been through a lot over the years : two books, reams of journalism and hundreds of letters. Come to think of it , we're partners because we need each other . In the lonely business of writing, Julia is my one and only companion – for better or for worse – and her loyalty means a lot . My friends and colleagues are always making fun of me and call me an old dinosaur. They insist that sooner or later I’ll have to start using a word-processor and get rid of Julia – my faithful old typewriter !

22. IDIOMATIC LEXICAL CHUNKS FIXED VARIABLE (verb tense, pronoun, negation) DIS- CONTINUOUS (+ lexical items)

26. She kept getting sick They keep getting lost represented thus : [keep] getting [ADJ]

27. ILCs grammatically irregular and/or semantically opaque FIXED once or twice each other VARIABLE [see] eye to eye DIS-CONTINUOUS [keep] getting [ ADJ ]

28. TEACHING ILCs Should we teach them? Which chunks should we teach? Who should be taught? How should we teach them?

29. TEACHING ILCs text-oriented approach goal-oriented approach practice tasks organisational frameworks

32. They often have synonyms: sooner or later = eventually They sometimes repeat the same word: again and again little by little They often start with the same letters or sounds: first and foremost last but not least born and bred

33. some rhyme wear and tear wine and dine similar in Hebrew but not the same sooner or later more or less for better or for worse no Hebrew equivalent back to front the same in Hebrew one and only

35. add chunks from the same category [make] sure [make] up [your] mind [can’t] make head or tail of

37. other examples of way as an intensifer way above, way below, way beyond, way too long, way out of reach

45. Be aware !! Idiomatic chunks are all over the place

46. Thank you for

47. Thank you for [bearing] with [me] [email_address]