Teacher Discussion Forums

Hi all

Does anyone there have any suggestions for resource books useful for implementing the Lexical Approach. In particular something which deals with structure and organisation of student vocabulary books. I've read implementing the Lexical Approach; however, while it does have some very interesting material, I'd rather not re-invent the wheel if there is good material out there on the market already.

For sentence headings (don't know if that's the correct terminology) by which I mean fixed/semi fixed frames at the beginning of sentences (eg. If I were you, I'd, In my [personal] opinion, So what you saying is [that]) in spoken English I would recommend.

Conversation Gambits, Language Teaching Publications

Any other recommendations would be very welcome. Please note that hear unlike my previous post, http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/teacher/v ... 46&start=0 , I am looking primarily for practically applicable material with a focus on lexical development.

Thanks for any help, and thanks, too, to everyone who made suggestions on my last post, especially Larry Latham who's suggestions were a real eye opener.

Cheers
Stephen

I realize (and I'm sure you realize) that there's more to a Lexical Approach than sentence heads/gambits, but if that's mainly what you're looking for, then some of the older, more functional publications can be useful (provided they are used with caution) - for example, have you tried Function in English (OUP)? I can't remember the (3) authors' names, maybe Nigel Blundell and Middlemass or something like that (I tried to find it on Amazon just now, it doesn't appear to be on their more recent listings...maybe it's out of print?!). Anyway, it would be well worth getting hold of...

I know you also want more practical books, but Nattinger and DeCarrico's Lexical Phrases in Language Teaching has a fair range of exponents/discourse markers in English, russian and Chinese in an appendix.

Other than that, I'd suggest getting a good learner's dictionary with a CD-ROM, and try searching the definitions for "functional" keywords... coursebooks, no matter how good or comprehensive, don't cover everything, and there could well be other ways to organize things...

This post may be negative sounding, but points I strongly feel should be considered. Implementing the Lexical Approach was a disappointing follow up to The Lexical Approach. There is really nothing new in the exercises in Implementing The Lexical Approach, and looking for material similar to it is setting yourself in the wrong direction.

The effective difference in the Lexical Approach is how language is taught, in that grammar is really not in the foreground, but instead attention is drawn to lexical items and how they fall under the spectra outlined in the Lexical Approach. Additionally, the teaching is structured in the Observe-Hypothesis-Experiment paradigm, although under emphasized in the Lexical Approach, this is in fact a major reorientation of classroom practise.

That being said, the key to developing good material is the 'hypothesisability' of it. Getting the students to think is key and I have found that textbooks are not the best tool to use to excite the students to think or experiment. Simply teaching sentence heads and lexical items in the PPP paradigm is not the way forward either. Whereas the Lexical Approach pointed the way forward, Implementing the Lexical Approach is the way backward; it is chuck full of exercises that are not only extremely boring, but many are of the 'one correct answer' type, which contradicts the ideas outlined in the Lexical Approach.

I really think Lewis was responding to a wave of critics and criticism when he produced Implementing the Lexical Approach who did not understand his theory but were so populous that they required some fodder to their liking in order to appease or distract them from spoiling the significance of The Lexical Approach. It is quite and outstanding work and because of this offends a lot of closely held beliefs and practises. Implementing the Lexical Approach is some fodder or chaff written so that Lewis's critics or anyone who didn't read the Lexical Approach with enough care and attention would be thrown off.

My advice may not be what you are asking for from this thread, but shelve Implementing the Lexical Approach and instead develop your own tools in view of the ideas set out in the Lexical Approach as Lewis initially intended. Avoid other materials, even Lewis's Implementing the Lexical Approach, as they do not apply the Lexical Approach in the best form. The Lexial Approach refers to an adaptable teaching and learning process, not a structured body of material that has anticipated and provided for the learners needs beforehand.

Warmest Regards,

My Dingaling

Hi Stephen, I managed to find the book on Amazon (I had a few spare MINUTES just now to check more thoroughly):

Function in English
J. Blundell et al
Availability: This item is not in stock. If you would like to purchase this title, we recommend that you request it used.
Paperback 280 pages (July 1, 1982)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0194311686

Have you also checked out the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (the full-size original, not the totally rewritten and substantially smaller - albeit cheaper - Longman Student Grammar of SWE)? There is a lot of useful information in the chapter on spoken English, particularly regarding frequently occuring "lexical bundles" (fixed phrases) of e.g. 3, 4, 5 or 6 words.

My Dingaling makes some good points in his above post; you should absorb what is useful from Lewis's original work, and add what is specifically your own. Walk on!

Dear Ducan and My Dingaling

Thanks for both of your responses.

I have to say that I too found Implementing the Lexical Approach vastly disappointing. The only section of real value was the section where teachers outlined what they had done in class. As for his section of exercises, I personally found a collection of things that I stopped doing in class years ago as I found them to be of at best little value to my students; I fail to see how reviving them with a lexical focus would make them any less boring and much more valuable. The activities section whilst marginally better was still an extreme disappointment. For me this book (ie. Implementing) does not go nearly far enough. I personally favour a much more radical shift in emphasis than proposed by this book. What I'm looking for is for material which assists in this, certainly not just sentence headings, but also things like discovery techniques to help. Indeed the biggest problem with implementing the lexical approach (in the classroom, not the actual book) is the lack of material available for learners to make initial observations with and to form initial hypothesis upon.

To be honest, my biggest problem is that I only have so much time to prepare material myself and what I'm really looking for is material that I can buy to supplement what I have. I am certainly looking for material which goes further than that in Implementing the Lexical Approach, and material dealing with sentence headings is just one area of this; I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear in my origional posting.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation Ducan I shall definately try to get my hands on it.

Cheers
Stephen

Oh, I forgot to mention Michael McCarthy's Spoken Language and Applied Linguistics. It would be interesting to see if you found what he says more stimulating than Lewis (because McCarthy has more hands-on experience with analyzing discourse, and as a corpus linguist/lexicographer re. CANCODE etc - he is therefore less of a "voice in the wilderness", perhaps (that's not to say Lewis has not been as if not more influential, though!)). But maybe Lewis is ultimately more your man, because he is specifically concerned with approaches (and materials etc) within language teaching.

As you also mentioned discovery techniques, you might like to try some titles relating to vocabulary studies/corpus linguistics/use of corpora, such as:

Schmitt, N & McCarthy, M (eds): Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)

Schmitt, N: Vocabulary in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Education S.)

Hunston, S: Corpora in Applied Linguistics (Cambridge Applied Linguistics)

A recent title from Oxford that has a good chapter on the benefits/drawbacks of data-driven learning is Seidlhofer's
Controversies in Applied Linguistics. You can read my comments about it in the "Cliches" thread.

A book I bought recently that I hope will be inspiring/useful is Dave Willis's Rules, Patterns and Words: Grammar and Lexis in English Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library). He is not as good a writer as Lewis or McCarthy (if his other books are anything to go by), though, so it'll doubtless be harder to fully appreciate...anyway the blurb on the back cover says:

"Grammar is central to language pedagogy and teachers need a clear description of what constitutes grammar and how it can best be taught in the English language classroom. This book illustrates a new way of describing the grammar of spoken and written English. In an accessible style, the author demonstrates how lexical phrases, frames and patterns provide a link between grammar and vocabulary. He also discusses how the different aspects of the language require different learning processes and different teaching techniques. These processes and techniques are contextualised within a task-based approach to teaching and learning. Numerous interactive tasks are provided to guide readers and over forty examples of teaching exercises are included to illustrate techniques which can be applied in the classroom immediately."

Happy reading...and tell us if you have any recommendations yourself!