Lesson 1: Lexis

1. Selection

The vocabulary you introduce may to a large extent depend on the course book your school uses,
but you are free to introduce other areas of vocabulary when you feel that it is relevant to your
teaching.

However it is essential that your students do not "drown" in too much new vocabulary as, if this
is the case, they will retain little of it.  Long lists of vocabulary without the structure, relevant
context, form and idiom will not bring about language competence.

Not only is it important not to introduce too much, and particularly not in unrelated lists, but the
selection of the vocabulary is of great importance.

2. Formation

Students need to know the facts about the formation of words and how different forms fit
different grammatical contexts - for example take the verb 'smile'.  'Smile' can also be a noun,
and the present participle.

'smiling' can also be used as an adjective:

 The children never smile at the teacher.

 The teacher looked angry then he gave me a smile.
 Happy children are always smiling.
 The smiling face of the Mona Lisa looks down on the crowd.

3. Word Stems

Students need to know the relationship between words with the same stem:

For example:

growth - grown - growing - grow - grew

4. Parts of Speech

Students may also find it useful to know how the components of lexical items are put together.

The component parts of multi-word items may themselves be different parts of speech, perhaps a
combination of two nouns making a single compound noun:

            eg - lampshade
A noun and a gerund making one item of two words:

            eg - skating rink

Two hyphenated words making one item:

            eg - play-off

5. Prefixes and Suffixes

Students also need to know common prefixes:

a-                  auto-                  dis-                  pre-

ab-                  co-                    ex-                  re-

ante-               con-                 mis-                  sub-

an-                  non-                 per-                  un-

and suffixes:

-able         -ism                           -er                  -ist

-or            -ise                             -ic                  -ness

-ify           -tion

. . . . and how they work

For example they can make words opposite in meaning:

mis + understand                  =         misunderstand

un  +  happy                           =         unhappy

Or a noun can be formed from an adjective:

happy - y + i + ness = happiness

Students also need to know how the words are spelt and how they sound.  Of particular
importance is the way these words are stressed as this can alter the meaning and make them
incomprehensible

eg potent + im  = impotent, put the stress on the wrong syllable and it will sound like  -
important.  
6. Antonyms and Synonyms

Students also need to know how the meaning of one lexical item relates to another.

Items which mean the same or almost the same are synonyms:

 Sizeable and large are synonyms of big.

Items which mean the opposite are antonyms:

 Sad is an antonym of happy.

Please note that when a student is translating from his/her mother tongue that he/she will choose
one word but that there may be many synonyms.  Two words cannot be exactly the same in
meaning, otherwise there would be only one word.

7. Appropriate Language

Here, of course, style and register also play a very important part in helping us to decide which
word to choose.

eg  synonyms of 'angry' may be elicited as 'cross', which is acceptable in most situations, or

'pissed off' which often isn't.

It is important to ensure that students are taught, and know how to choose, appropriate language
for particular situations.

Lack of awareness in students can cause offence, confusion and can lead to students not being
taken seriously.

A non-native speaker of English may impress an everyday speaker with his/her skill in
manipulating language as in his/her appropriate use of tenses or correct word order and all things
grammatical, but may not know a vitally important word which will satisfy his/her needs at the
time.

eg  "I would like some lighter fuel".   Say "lighter fuel" only and you would get what you want.
"I would like" and "please" are simply politenesses and could be excluded.

When teaching lexis the teacher has to make a judgement on which words could be left until a
later stage of learning or for the student to discover for him/herself.

eg  'table' must be taught early on in the student's language learning because of the frequency of
its use:- dining table, dressing table, bedside table, scientific table, frequency table etc.

8. Collocation
When teaching lexis, students need to be aware of the fact that certain words go together, ie
collocation. Collocations are clusters of two or three words that occur regularly together in
English.

eg It is correct to say, ’wide awake’, but you can not say ‘wide asleep’ (you would say, ’fast
asleep’). When teaching lexis, it is important to tell students which words the items of lexis you
are teaching collocate with. Look at some of the common types of collocations below, and try to
think of some more examples for each type:

Noun + Noun: pay rise / money box

Verb + Noun: take a break / throw a party Adverb + Verb: strongly recommend /

cautiously suggest
Verb + Adjective + Noun: turn over a new leaf
/ lead a healthy lifestyle Adverb + Adjective: completely exhausted /
utterly amazed
Adjective + Preposition: upset about /
embarrassed about / guilty of Adverb + Adjective + Noun: totally
unacceptable behaviour
Adjective + Noun: square meal / healthy
interest

An understanding of collocation is important for all learners and is particularly important for
advanced learners.

LEXIS SUMMARY

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