The Lexical Approach And Collocations

The Lexical Approach And CollocationsCollocations argon actors line which if combined together, sound right to native English speakers. Eg Fast food. Any early(a)(a) combination may sound wrong and unnatural. Eg quick food. Collocations ar not linguistic communication which we put together. They coincide naturally. Collocation is the modal value in which enounces co-occur in natural text in statistically significant ways. (Lewis, dogma Collocation 2000132).For Thornbury, collocation is a continuum that moves from compound words (second-hand), through lexical chunks (bits and pieces), including idioms (out of the blue) and phrasal verbs (do up), to collocations of more(prenominal) or less fixedness (set a new world record) (Thornbury S. 2002, How to get word vocabulary, Longman).Collocations demand different strengths Weak and fast collocations. Weak collocations involve words which can co-occur with some(prenominal) other words. E.g Red shirt. They can apply the colour red to many other words eg red car, red door. Strong collocations have words which al well-nigh never occur separately such as the collocation spick and span and rancid butter. There are too Unique collocations e.g, shrug shoulders. These are unique beca wont the verb (shrug) is not used with any other noun.Medium-strength collocations Hold a conversation, a minor operation. Hill argued that medium-strength collocations are most important for the ESL classroom. (Lewis, M., 2000 63)Thornbury widens the definition of collocation, articulateing that collocation is not a frozen relationship and two collocates may even be separated from each other, eg demean off The company is laying more workers off. Lewis and other writers divide collocations into two types grammatic collocation and lexical collocation. (Lewis2000)Grammatical Collocation Eg step intoIn the typesetters case above, a verb collocates with a preposition. Therefore grammatical collocations are lexical words such as an adjective, verb or noun (in our case step), which are combined with a grammatical word (preposition into).Lexical Collocation Eg black coffeeLexical collocations are items where two lexical words regularly and naturally occur together. Bahns (ELTJ 47/1 1993) verbalize that although some lexical collocations are quite direct and obvious in their consequence, others are not. In our example, black coffee all the way indicates that there is no milk in the coffee but Bahns states that collocations which are not direct eg lay off are the aces which cause the most problems to non-native speakers since their meaning are hidden.The richness of collocations in L2 breedingMany agree that collocations are important in expression information. James Carl (1998) stated that using collocations correctly contributes greatly to ones idiomaticity and nativelikeness. 6 Lewis stated that fluency is based on the acquisition of a large store of fixed or semi-fixed prefabricated items. 7 Sonaiya (1 988) went even further, assigning that lexical errors are more serious because effective communication depends on the choice of words. 8Collocations, are found in most of what we say, hear, read or write. All of these fixed expressions are stored and memorised ready to be used when needed. If we want to retrieve these ready-to-use phrases, lexical items must be aqcuired prototypic by being exposed to, hearing and reading them for a number of clocks. In theory, good quality input might lead to good quality retrieval. This in return will help learners to be more fluent because they can recognise multi-word units rather than word by word.A lexical item, which is any item that functions as a single meaning unit, irrespective of its different derived forms, or of the number of words that hasten it, has an important role in learning a vocabulary. (Thornbury, An A-Z of ELT (Oxford Macmillan, 2006), pg120).The impressiveness of collocations in L2 learning was a fabricate that the Lex ical Approach had proposed.The Lexical Approach and collocationsThe lexical approach encourages learners to identify and learn collocations as lexical items rather than individual words. For example catch a cold, is seen as a single unit of meaning (or multi-word unit) and not as three individual words with three individual meanings. According to Schmidt ( form,2000), having words in lexical phrases rather than individually, reflects the way the mind stores and chunks expression to make it easier to process.The lexical approach influenced the way we perceive lexis, the way we teach it and how we encourage learners to learn it . vocabulary choice in language, is not haphazard but predictable. Lewis gives an example of drinking, telling us that the speaker may use the verb have. The listener can predict several(prenominal) words which collocate with it tea, coffee,orange juice etc. But on the other hand, the listener does not predict words like shampoo. 9One of the beliefs groundwo rk the Lexical Approach is that language is not made up of only traditional vocabulary and grammar but prefabricated multi-word chunks. In other words, language consists of grammaticalized lexis and not formulate grammar. Rather than having a syllabus which is only grammar based, the lexical approach emphasises that lexis should be at the centre of language learning.The lexical approach posits that an indispensable part of getting language is to comprehend and produce lexical chunks. These chunks help learners to make patterns of language traditionally thought of as grammar (Lewis,The Lexical Approach 1993, p. 95)._____________________________________________________________________________________6James, Carl. (1998). Errors in language learning and use. London Longman.7 Lewis, M. (1997). Implementing the lexical approach. Hove Language Teaching Publications.8 Sonaiya, C. (1988). The lexicon in second language acquisition A lexical approach to error analysis. PhD Thesis. Cornell University.9, 10 Lewis, Michael, Teaching Collocation (Hove Language Teaching Publications, 2000) pg5Different types of CollocationTaken from Howert (1996), Carter(1987) and Mc.Carthy ODell(2005), here are types of collocationsFree CombinationThe verbs can collocate with many words to form different meanings.Example makeI will make it clear from the beginning (make something clear)I will make him happy (make happy)In this case, they may consist of modal verbs such as make,do, have, get,take + any type of word.Restricted CombinationThese collocations are typically nouns, adjectives or verbs which go to together with particular words. exploitation other words with them make them sound incorrect to the native speaker.(i) Adjective + noun E.g Her condition was a major problem.(ii) Adverb + verb E.g He cheekily replied I dont care(iii) Verb + noun E.g Weve headstrong to move house.(iv) Noun + verb E.g The brakes screeched as he tried to stop the car.(v) Noun + noun Usually these coll ocations have the pattern a.of E.g She was holding a basket of eggs.Delexicalised VerbsEvery language has sanctioned verbs which are frequently used. The English language is no exception and we can find various frequent verbs (Svartvik and Ekedahl 1995) (The Verb in Contemporary English Theory and Description, CUP 1995)DoMakeHaveTakeGoGetE.gIt is interesting to note that these high frequency verbs in the examples are very much used as Delexicalised Verbs. These delexicalised verbs have meaning when combined with other words. In other words de-lexicalised verbs have little meaning alone but if joined together with other words, they can generate a wider variety of new meaningsEgdo your bestmake roomhave lunchtake a showergo for a walkget dressedDelexicalised verbs make doWhat is interesting about these two verbs is that, Mc.Carthy ODell (20056) describe these two verbs as everyday verbs and dedicate a whole page on make and do. This clearly shows that they are very high frequency verbs in English and they probably cause a pot of confusion to learners as well In their books index, both verbs have more than 60 different collocates each. The verbs make and do in fact like many high frequency verbs, enters into numerous collocations and idioms.Language ChunkingMake your bed is a chunking of two words Verb+Noun (Make + bed). This delexicalised verb is a language chunk which is a pre-fabricated language item in a formulaic way, which is then stored as a single lexical unit (and not two individual units). By storing as a single lexical unit, it is believed to quicken the mental processing of the speaker when speaking, reading and when acquiring language. The designer why it quickens this mental processing when producing language is because rather than having to connect individual word units together one by one (do and bed), the speaker can retrieve the chunk needed at one go and reduce mental processing time.Language chunking therefore is believed to help langu age fluency by combining other chunks to create eight-day ready-to-use phrases. I tend to agree with this core belief of the Lexical Approach because when I give a phrase to learners such as Make a list of things or Remember to do your cooking learners seem to retrieve and use these given ready-to-use phrases correctly to create their own sentences and meanings. Once learners understand the meaning behind the phrase, they store it in their mental lexicon. If used regularly, there is a high possibility it will help fluencycy and reduce mental processing time when speaking.Problems learners have with delexicalised verbsAlthough they come naturally to native speakers, collocations formed with delexicalised verbs can be rather tricky. Some of the main problems that low level learners experience are as follows (go to 11. Coll pg4) (12.Coll pg4)They have never been exposed to or made advised of collocations in their learning experiences.Learners often have problems with these verbs bec ause they try to find a general meaning.They often struggle to find the right collocation, often translating possible equivalents from their own language. E.g make a photo.Learners find it difficult to memorize collocations because they are arbitrary.Teachers are partly to saddle because as Carter and McCarthy point out, vocabulary study has been neglected by linguists, applied linguists and language teachers(1988 1). Therefore teachers need to present collocations such as delexicalised verbs to learners to help them mother more and more familiar with the different uses of make and do for example.In fact, McCarthy tells us that in vocabulary teaching there is a high importance of collocation (199012). The way collocation teaching is neglected in ESL classroom and the insufficient input of the target language may be a reason why learners lack a knowledge of collocation. One reason why teachers do not give such importance to collocation is because they feel safer when they teach gra mmar because they feel they know the rules and can explain them. Collocations are arbitrary and this leads us to the second problemCollocations are arbitrary and are decided by assembly instead of rules. Many learners have been exposed to learning languages in a systematic way i.e there is an explanation, rules and reasoning behind each grammar point eg the first conditional if + present simple, will + infinitive. Because they are used to learning languages in a grammatical way, learners find it difficult to accept that some words collocate duration others do not and that there is no reason for this other than it is what native speakers say.Many learners ask me Why cant I say make a photo instead of take a photo? I used to feel rather unprofessional having to say because thats the way it is. Now I say because take goes together with a photo make does not. That is the way language is naturally and natively spoken as I have already commented in sectionalization A.In fact, McCarth y said that knowledge of collocational appropriacy is part of native speakers competence. (McCarthy, M.1990Vocabulary. Oxford Oxford University Press.199013). Therefore, being aware of collocations and accepting them as a window to the natural way of speaking the language is essential in learning a language. One has to admit that some are not so easy to learn. In fact, Benson (1985) clearly stated that collocations are arbitrary and non-predictable, so much so that even native speakers sometimes have to double foil before deciding if a word collocates with a particular word or not.When learners are confronted with collocations like to make a mistake, learners resort to translation from L1 to understand why we use make and not do as in many other languages. However this leads to misuse of the collocation or creation of word combinations which are non-existant in English. Eg My Italian learners sometimes say do a mistake because in their language they only have one verb, fare, which resembles make or do. Literally translated, fare una torta is do a ginmill from Italian to English.Lexical verbs such as make or do require memorising whole lists of words that can collocate with them. I sympathise with learners, who have to face many complicated and difficult lexicalised verbs, which have meaning differences in various contexts. Furthermore, combinations of delexicalised words are less likely to explain clearly what they mean in translation and thus are more error-prone in learner language (Lewis 1993, Nesselhauf 2005).When my learners tell me its impossible to learn all of these phrases by heart, I have to admit that I understand them. Collocation books like McCarthy ODells English Collocations In Use (CUP2005), present the delexicalised verbs make and do in a way that makes a learner feel that he/she has to learn the phrases by heart. A similiar example of such a list is one underTo make an apologyTo do your homeworkTo make a cakeTo do the dishesTo make breakf astTo do the laundryTo make your bedTo do your bestTo make a listTo do your nails and hairTo make a mistakeTo do the ironing, washing, cooking, etc.To make plansTo do a patronageLearners need ways to remember the meanings of the lexicalised verbs as the ones above. It is difficult enough trying to think of grammar needed, word syntax, vocabulary and so on when trying to construct a sentence in L2 learning, let alone trying to remember and above all retrieve the right collocation needed.Problems learners have with delexicalised verbsMaking learners aware of delexicalised verbsBy helping learners to notice collocation, they can acquire vocabulary building skills eg ability to list and categorize lexis. It also encourages them to become autonomous learners. One way of helping learners develop the habit of paying attention to chunks, rather than just individual words, when reading is by helping them make informed guesses about what word goes with do or make.Inside Out Elementary (Macmi llan16) presents a day in the life of a man and a woman. Having guessed who does what, learners read the text to check if they guessed correctly. The text includes a lot of collocations with make or do. Learners then are asked to form common expressions with make or do from the textThe most homework the bedsThe shopping dinnerThe washing up the most noiseLearners have a speaking employ with make or do by maxim who does or makes what in the house, using the same prompts given in the above exercise. Eg My mother does the shopping and we make our beds etcTrying to make sentiency of make and doAlthough it is not easy to learn collocations of make and do, McCarthy ODell in English Collocations in Use (CUP2005 18) present us with some of the most common phrases with these two delexicalised verbs. In fact they call them Everyday verbs. It includes a list of collocations of make and do and an example on the side. EgCollocationExampleMake an excuseIm too commonplace to go out tonight. Lets make an excuse and stay homeDo your hairIm not ready I havent done my hair yetTo practice them, I would cut out the collocations and examples into separate strips. In pairs, learners would then have to try to put the example and collocation together, by trying to make sense of them. Once they have been corrected in class, I would give them a questionnaire from Collocations in Use (pg19). Having been exposed to the collocations needed in the previous activity, they have to stuff in the question with either do or make, answer it and then go round and ask the questions to their classmates.Trying to find the right collocation to useTo help learners practice and be a bit more confident in their use of collocations, I like to use an activity which Lewis proposed in Teaching Collocation (Hove112). Basically learners have to put in the missing verb in the collocations. This will help them to minimize their mistakes as our Italians made I do a mistake...a mistake 2. .your homeworka sta tement your hairan observation what you have to doAlternatively, I can give the activity some context by giving learners the activity found on page 100 in Language to go Intermediate. Here learners have to complete the text using make or do. This will help them to see how the collocation is used in a context.Helping them to remember the collocationsTo recall what theyve learnt, learners need remember what theyve learnt. Thornbury 3 states that learning is remembering, which clearly shows how important memory is in learning a language. The same principle applies to collocations.One way of helping learners to remember the collocations is by revising them as much as possible . one particular activity that I like to use to recycle collocations that were met in class is Run n Grab. I divide learners into teams and I read out the end of the collocation eg an apology. I write down Do and Make on the wag. Learners have to run to the board to circle which one they think goes with the ending of my collocation. Whoever gets most points wins.ConclusionPersonally, I feel that the lexical approach has taught me a lot about vocabulary. Rather than sightedness vocabulary as individual items, I can now help my learners with vocabulary by using chunks. In this case, collocations which are in themselves chunks, are essential in language learning. By frequently exposing, raising -consciousness and helping them to memorize collocations, I feel that I am appreciating more the importance of lexis in language learning.