“Language consists not of traditional grammar and vocabulary but often multi-word prefabricated chunks.”

2. Theory background
Key figures:
Corder – “ holophrases” – (1973)
Hakuta – “ prefabricated patterns” – (1974)
Keller – “ gambits” – (1979)
Peters – “ speech formulae” – (1983)
Dave Willis – “The Lexical Syllabus” - (1990)
Nattinger and deCarrico - (1992)
“The Lexical phrases and language teaching”
Michael Lewis – “The Lexical Approach” - (1993)

3. The viewpoint of languageThe viewpoint of language
“Language consists not of traditional grammar and vocabulary but often
multi-word prefabricated chunks.” Michael Lewis
“The essential idea is that fluency is based on the acquisition of fixed and
semi-fixed prefabricated items, which are available as the foundation for
any linguistic novelty or creativity.” Michael Lewis
It refers to the belief that the building blocks of language learning and
communication are not grammar, functions or notions or some other unit
but lexis. Michael Lewis
According to the Lexical Approach, students should learn 'chunks' of
language, since language is made up of collocations, idioms, and fixed
phrases. Michael Lewis

4. • It is a method of teaching foreign languages.
TheThe LexicalLexical ApproachApproach
• An important part of learning a language consists of being
able to understand and produce lexical phrases as chunks
which can be adapted, combined and recombined to fulfill
different functions or purposes.
• The lexical approach concentrates on developing learners'
proficiency with lexis, or words and word combinations.
Lexis plays the central role.
• Alternative approach to traditional grammatical approach
Chunks which makes fluency reality)
• Minimal pairs, collocations, lexical units are the specific
characteristics of this approach

5. The Lexical ApproachThe Lexical Approach
What are the main features of the lexical approach ?
LEXISLEXIS, rather than grammar, plays a primary role in the acquisition
of language.
LEXISLEXIS is not just vocabulary.
CHUNKSCHUNKS (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.

6. The Nature of LexisThe Nature of Lexis
For this approach, vocabulary has the central role in linguistic
description.
This approach establishes that the centrality of lexicon to
language structure and the importance of lexical units or
“chunks” that are learned and used as single items
LexicalLexical unitsunits
There is a distinction between vocabulary, traditionally
thought to be constituted of single items, and lexis, which
includes not only the single words but also the word
combinations that we store in our mental lexicon.

7. The Nature of Lexis: examplesThe Nature of Lexis: examples
Words: book , pen
Polywords: by the way , upside down , on the other hand
Collocations: community service, do * a job, my hair , my work
make* bed , promise , coffee , a meal
Fixed expressions: I´ll get it ; We´ll see ; If I were you ...
Sentence frames or heads: The problem is… ,That is all very well, but…
Idioms: dead drunk , to run up a bill
Similes: as old as hills
Connectives: finally , to conclude
Binomials: clean and tidy , back to front
Trinomials: cool, calm , and collected
Conversational gambits: guess what !

8. The role of collocations is also important in lexically based theories of
languages.
Collocations refer to the regular use of words together.
Do my hair/the cooking/my work
Collocations might be described as the words that are placed or found
together in a predictable pattern. Examples range from two word
combinations These language patterns comprise much of speech and
writing
The Nature of LexisThe Nature of Lexis
Collocations: are words that 'sound right' together, even though there is
no grammatical reason they should be used together:
gin & tonic (but never tonic & gin)
high probability (but good chance)
completely useless (not entirely useless)

9. Idioms: are phrases that express something entirely
different than what their literal meaning suggests:
The Lexical ApproachThe Lexical Approach
to pull someone's legto pull someone's leg
to get cold feetto get cold feet
to cut to the chaseto cut to the chase

10. Fixed phrases: are commonly-used expressions:
 to close your eyesto close your eyes
 to get the impressionto get the impression
 larger than lifelarger than life

11. DESINGING FOR LANGUAGE
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Materials
Objectives
Syllabus
Learning
activities
The role of teacher
The role of learners

12. Teaching Objective
 To understand and consolidate learning
materials based on lexical rather than
grammatical principles.
 Comprehending the most common
lexical words together with lexical
patterns and accesses.

13. SYLLABUS
 The lexical syllabus not only subsumes a
structural syllabus, it also indicate how the
structures which make up syllabus should be
exemplified (Willis, 1990).
 A lexical syllabus provides a discussion of
some of the major issues in language
teaching methodology ( Willis, 1990) .
 Lexical syllabus target how text are used in
classroom

14. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
 Teachers’ aims :
 Class time should be confined particular
learning strategies dealing with unknown
lexical items and structures.
 Teachers can struggle for students’
consciousness and lexical patterns’ benefits.
 Students should be relaxed for fear of
causing confusion to the learners’ lexicon.

15. • THE ROLE OF TEACHERS
• Teacher talk is a major source
of learners input
• Organizing technological
systems and creating
environment to help
effectively learners
• Teachers’ methodology in
classroom
• Helping learners manage their
own learning
• THE ROLE OF LEARNERS
• The idea of the teacher as
‘knower’ = the idea of the
learners as ‘discoverer ’
• Data analyst
• Providing participation with
listening , noticing and
reflecting.
• The student is the discoverer

16. MATERIALS AND
TEACHING RESOURSES
TYPE 1 TYPE 2
Course package computer
Concordance
Collection of vocabulary
Teaching activities
TYPE 3 TYPE 4
“printout version” of computer
corpora
Collections packaged in text format
Programs and attached data sets

17. PROCEDURE
 On the base of the implemented
documents and activities, procedural
sequences change.
 Classroom procedures generally include
followings:
 a) Attracting students’ attention to lexical
collocations
 b) Increasing students’ retention

18. PROCEDURE
 C) Teaching individual collocations
 d) Making students aware of colocations
 E) Extending what students already
know by adding knowledge of collocation
restrictions to know vocabulary.
 F) Storing collocations through
encouraging students to keep
a lexical notebook.

19. A proposal from Woolard:
 Revising the course books to seek collocations , and
practicing making use of activities developing the
students’ realization to collocation

20. A proposal from Hill:
 Teaching individual collocations
 Providing students awareness to
collocations.
 Giving the knowledge of collocation
and adding them to appropriate
known words.
 Supporting students to keep a lexical
notebook.

21.  This approach’s characterization still
remains incompletely.
 It is still only an opinion .
 Teachers should use more exercises
for raising students’ mindfulness
rather than explaining lengthily.

23. REFERENCES
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/17116576/Presentation-on-The-Lexical-Approac
• Lewis, M. (1993). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and a way
forward. Hove, England: Language Teaching Publications.
• Lewis, M. (1997). Implementing the lexical approach. Hove, England:
Language Teaching Publications.
• Nation, I. S. .P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. Rowley, MA:
Newbury House.
• Richards, J. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching:Cambridge University Press.
• Sinclair, J. (1991). Corpus, concordance, collocation. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
• http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/4/363.extract

24. • Corder, P 1963 Introducing Applied linguistics. Baltimore: Penguin
Books.
• Lewis, M.(ed.).2000.Teaching collocation: Further Development in
the Lexical Approach. London: Language Teaching Publication.
• Lewis, M.2000. Learning the Lexical Approach. In M.LEWIS
(ED.),Teaching collocation : further development in the Lexical
Approach. London : Language Teaching Publication.
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki/chunks
• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/lexical-approach-
1-what-does-lexical-approach-look
• http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/chunkterm.htm
• http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej09/r10.html
REFERENCES