LEXICAL

APPROACH

Presented by:
Evelyn Then
Han Shao Xian
Joey Goh
Imelda Tiong
James Ngu
THE LEXICAL APPROACH
 It is a method of teaching foreign languages
 Learning a language -being able to
understand and produce lexical
phrases as chunk which can be adapted,
combined and recombined to fulfill different
functions or purposes.
 It concentrates on developing learners;
proficiency with LEXIS, or WORDS and
WORD COMBINATIONS
 LEXIS plays the central role.

 Minimal pairs, collocations, lexical units are

the specific characteristics of this approach
 According to Lewis: Language is not learnt by
learning individual sounds and structures and
then combining them, but by an increasing
ability to break down wholes into parts.
Grammar is acquired by a process of observation,
hypothesis and experiment. We can use whole
phrases without understanding their constituent
parts.
MAIN FEATURES OF LEXICAL APPROACH
 Lexis, rather than grammar, plays a primary
role in the acquisition of language.
 Lexis is not just vocabulary.
 Chunks represent a significant portion of a
native speaker’s spoken and written output.
Some of the chunks are the following ones:
 still in the running take on (smb)
 to be receptive to the idea
 explore the issue further
 making a case
 further down the line
 on track to
 will take place at
THE GOALS OF TEACHERS
 Encountering new learning items
 Get students be aware of use and to eventually
master these meaning-filled, multi-world
“chunk”, collocations and fixed utterance
 Get students to notice for themselves how
language is typically used
 Language is learnt by an increasing ability to
break down wholes into parts
THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
 The idea of the teacher as “knower”
 Teacher talk is a major source of learners input.

 To understand and implement the methodology

which is based on stages composed of
 Task
 Planning
 Report
 To create an operative environment (where
students operate effectively)
 To help the learners manage their own learning
after operation
THE ROLE OF THE STUDENTS
 The idea of the learners as “discoverer”
 The analyser of real life language samples based
on his or her own explanations (data analyst)
 To observe, classify and make generalizations

 Providing participation with listening, noticing

and reflecting
CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHING/
LEARNING PROCESS

 Introduction of chunks
 Practice of chunks

 Accumulation of chunks

 Use of chunks and collocations

NATURE OF STUDENT-TEACHER INTERACTION/
STUDENT-STUDENT INTERACTION

Student-Teacher Interaction Student-Student Interaction

-teachers help students in their students initiate interactions
learning only when they have with other students most of the
difficulties time
FEELINGS OF THE STUDENTS DEALT WITH?
HOW IS LANGUAGE VIEWED? HOW IS
CULTURE VIEWED?
WHAT AREAS OF LANGUAGE ARE EMPHASISED?
WHAT LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE EMPHASISED?
 Grammar as a receptive skill must be recognized
 Emphasis on listening skill
THE ROLE OF STUDENTS’ NATIVE
LANGUAGE

 teaching vocabulary and grammar to their peers

 they used to clarify and explain the target
language grammar patterns
 thay also used to teach the meanings of unknown
words in the target language
HOW IS EVALUATION ACCOMPLISH?
 learners read a text, and respond with their own
views and opinions before studying the language
in the text
 Learners are later encouraged to focus on a
particular feature of the text, identify instances
of the feature, make discoveries and articulate
generalizations about its use
HOW DOES THE TEACHER RESPOND TO
STUDENTS’ ERRORS?

 Reformulation should be the natural response to

student error
 Teachers should always react primarily to the
content of student language