LEXIS
the vocabulary of a language, as distinct from its grammar; the total stock of words and idiomatic combinations of them in a language; lexicon.
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acquire a working knowledge of a large number of words: ‘The more words I have,
the more precisely I can express the exact meanings I want to.’ But (as many of us
will recall from our own studies of other languages) getting to be on familiar terms
with lexis is quite difficult.
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LEXIS IN CLASSROOM
A learner, recognising the communicative power of lexis, might reasonably aim
Presenting lexis
Presenting Lexis
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It is usually most
useful when the lexical items presented are connected in some way, for example:
• words connected with the same location or event (eg shop words, wedding words);
• words that have the same grammar and similar use (eg adjectives to describe
people, movement verbs);
• words that can be used to achieve success in a specific task (eg persuading a
foreign friend to visit your town).
Presentation techniques for lexis
You will need
to check that learners have understood how they are formed, what they mean
and how they are used.
• Practise: you then get the students to practise, eg by repeating items, using them
in short dialogues, etc.
Lexis and skill work
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A great deal of lexis work in class occurs in relation to reading and listening tasks.
There are definite advantages in this, most importantly because learners meet the
language in realistic contexts and see how the items fit into the meaning and style
of a whole text.
The text that immediately surrounds a lexical item is referred to as co-text.