Practice module 1 TKT: Lexis

2. Aims of the unit:
•By the end of the unit, participants will have:
•Examined and discussed lexis such as types of
meaning, word formation, word groupings
and register.
•Had practice in completing tasks in which
lexis is the testing focus.

3. What is Lexis ?
acrvbauylo
Lexis, is individual words, or sets of words, that
have a specific meaning. Ex: tree
Lexis is: “All the words of a language”.
Cambridge International Dictionary of English.
Vocabulary

4. The average
person knows
from 45,000 to
60,000 words
in English.

5. Another fact…
•It is said that the average person speaks
3,000 words in an average day.

6. How do we know what
How do we know what
some words mean?
some words mean?
Without
Without

7. Context
Context: meaning is decided by the
situation it is used in.
Ball
The ball is round.
I had a ball at the party!

8. Words can have two meanings
Words can have two meanings

9. De
Denota
notation:
tion:
Describes the thing or idea behind the vocabulary
item; tree, family. The literal meaning of the word.
Connotation
Connotation:
:
This imaginative meaning comes from, but is different
from, denotation; “ The tree of life “ or “ a family
tree “; “word family”.
Do you have examples in Spanish?
Words can have two meanings
Words can have two meanings

10. by adding prefixes or suffixes to
base words; can you give some
examples?
Meaning can come from
Meaning can come from form
form

11. Meaning
Meaning
Colloca
Collocation
tions: are words that often go together to
create a phrase in which the group of words has a
different meaning of each individual word.
Most collocations use verbs…
to take a shower
make trouble
come in

12. Collocations and idioms
•Are called chunks of language
•This means that the words come together in
fixed units and we usually learn them as one
piece of language

13. Collocations can be:
Strong Weak
Strong collocations are
where the link between the
two words is quite fixed and
restricted.
Weak collocations are where a
word can collocate with many
other words.

16. Idioms
•Fixed expressions
that cannot be
changed

19. Compound words:
Compound words: Two or more
words that are generally used together
and have a specific meaning as if one
word.
 sun glasses
 pencil case

21. Lexical sets… what’s a lexical set?
Let’s illustrate this idea….
A group of words that belong to the same
topic area or family

22. Discuss:
How do we use these words to help discover
meaning?

23. Big
Big
Smart
Smart
Old
Old
Rich
Rich
Happy
Happy
Cold
Cold

24. TKT practice task: matching: odd 1 out
1. go home, at night,
2. terrible, dreadful,
3. backpack, classroom
4. worked, working
5. dishonest, incomplete
6. tables, chairs, windows
a. Synonyms
b. Collocations
c. Compound words
d. Words with suffixes
e. Words with prefixes
f. Lexical set
g. Antonyms

25. ANSWERS
1. go home, at night. Collocations
2. terrible, dreadful. Synonyms
3. backpack, classroom. Compound words
4. worked, working. Words with suffixes
5. dishonest, incomplete . Words with
prefixes
6. tables, chairs, windows. Lexical set

26. What is the lexical relationship?
1. make your bed, do your homework, brush your teeth
2. tooth brush, hand bag, holiday
3. strange, odd, funny, peculiar, weird
4. like dislike
freezing boiling
turn on turn off
5. desk, chair, lamp

27. Answers
Answers
1 collocations: words that occur together, often with verb
2 compound words: two words that make one
3 synonyms: words or phrases of similar meaning
4 antonyms: words of opposite meaning
5 lexical set: words that belong to a group, office

28. COGNATES
COGNATES

29. Embarrassed
Embarrassed

30. False
friends

32. Key concepts and the language
teaching classroom:
•Really knowing a word means knowing all its different
kinds of meanings.
•Knowing a word also involves understanding its form, i.e.
what part of speech it is, how it works gramatically, and
how it is pronounced and spelt.
•Whether we are learning our first or our second language,
it takes a long time before we fully know a word. We
often recognise a word before we can use it.

33. Key concepts and the language teaching
classroom
•Teachers need to introduce vocabulary items again
and again to learners, expanding gradually on their
meaning and their forms. This also increases the
chances of learners remembering the item.
REPETITION!
• We can introduce vocabulary items in reading and
listening before we ask learners to use the items.
Context is important

34. Wrap up