The Lexical Approach and its classroom
implications,
or the sad story of the dead rabbit
IATEFL-H Conference Eger
October 2012
Judit Révész
balogrevesz@t-online.hu
Language as a huge substitution table…
Noun/
auxiliary
verb
pronoun
Relative
Noun/
auxiliary
verb
pronoun pronoun
MAY
SHE
YOU
I
BRAD PITT
TOM & JERRY
CINDERELLA
WE
WE
MAY
WILL
SHOULD
MUST
‘LL
WHEN
SEE
KNOW
DECIDE
SWIM
WHAT
WHY
HOW
WHO
I
HE
WILL
SHOULD
GO
COOK
DO
THEY
MUST
SING
BILL
‘LL
HANG
SUSAN
CAN
 I’LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO.
What is a collocation?
 “Collocation is the readily observable phenomenon whereby
certain words co-occur in natural text with greater than random
frequency. Instead of words, we consciously try to think of
collocations, and to present these in expressions. Rather than
trying to break things into ever smaller pieces, there is a conscious
effort to see things in larger, more holistic, ways.”
(Michael Lewis, (1997). Implementing the lexical approach: Putting
theory into practice. Hove, England: Language Teaching
Publications.)
Density of collocations 2
 “Collocation is the readily observable phenomenon whereby
certain words co-occur in natural text with greater than
random frequency. Instead of words, we consciously try to
think of collocations, and to present these in expressions.
Rather than trying to break things into ever smaller
pieces, there is a conscious effort to see things in larger,
more holistic, ways.”
 50-80% of text is made up of chunks!
The reason why you’re so fluent is that you have a great amount
of overlearnt chunks
at your disposal!
Colligation
 is the way a word regularly co-occurs with a (grammatical)





pattern, the word and its grammatical environment. Each
word has its own “grammar”.
OWN = SAJÁT
Hunglish:
*He’s only 19 but he drives an own car.
*She passed the driving test.”
*They suggested to go somewhere else.
Collocational competence
 Is it just an issue for advanced learners?
 *She listens the classical music.
 *They go to home.
 *He plays on the violin.
 *My niece is one, she can go but she cannot speak.
 *He very likes football.
 „Like slow-release aspirin, (chunks) surrender their internal
structure slowly, over time”
(Scott Thornbury)
 These chunks become the raw data by which learners
perceive patterns of language traditionally thought of as
grammar.
 Only a minority of spoken sentences are entirely novel
creations.
Implications for language teaching
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Translation is out
Vocabulary lists with L1 equivalents are out
Value of learner creativity is questioned.
Huge amounts of authentic input
Awareness raising
Rote learning is back
Teacher as language model and input provider
Working/ Playing with language corpora e.g. BNC and
concordances
Rote learning is back!
 Collocations memory, jigsaw
 Gapped reading
 Correcting text
 Reconstructing text to make it personally meaningful
 Dictation – key words
 Copying – off-the wall-dictation
 Drills
 Learning by heart, songs, poetry, tongue twisters, proverbs, etc.
 Mini narratives – 5 nouns 5 verbs
 Recording formats, 5-5-1, Lobster
 Grouping collocations (have, put)
Re-telling
 Retell the story in your own words! =
Retell their story in your words.
 Retell your story in their words!
 I have a close friend called Irene. I’ve known her for about 15
years now. We met at work – she was a colleague of mine at
the company where I used to work. We get on very well
although we don’t have a lot in common – we have quite
different interests. We don’t work together any more, and
when I changed jobs we lost touch for a couple of years. But
now we keep in touch regularly.
 (New English File Intermediate, OUP)
 I have a close friend called Irene. I’ve known her 1……. 15
years now. We met at 2…….– she was a colleague 3……. at
the company where I used 4………. We get 5………….
although we don’t have a lot in 6…… – we have quite
different 7……….. We don’t work together any 8………,
and when I changed jobs we lost 9……… for a couple of
years. But now we 10…….. in touch regularly.
TOUCH in the British National Corpus
 I did not want to touch her.
 staying in touch is essential.
 I don't wanna lose touch
 had been out of touch since




with them now.
Clare kept in touch with 
Annabel.

He will touch everyone on 
the raw’

when the South Africans touch
down at Kingston Airport

a touch of elegance.
the first report
trying to get in touch?
a touch more deeply
It was always touch and go
He has been in touch with
Greenalls
Yes touch wood.
Collocation domino/memory
 TRAFFIC
 JAM
 CYCLE
 LANE
 PEDESTRIAN
 AREA
 RUSH
 HOUR
 PARKING
 LOT
Storing/revising vocabulary
 Catch the
 Miss the
 Get off the
 Get on the
 Take the
 BUS
Storing/revising vocabulary
 LANE
 TIMETABLE
 BUS
 TERMINAL
 ROUTE
 PASS
VERY
ABSOLUTELY
 CLEVER
 BRILLIANT
 DISAPPOINTING
 DISASTROUS
 IMPRESSIVE
 SUPERB
 ENJOYABLE
 HILARIOUS
 STUPID
 IDIOTIC
The sad story of the dead rabbit
The sad story of the dead rabbit
Catching the bus
Making friends
Fan club
Half brother
Toasting the bride
SUMMARY
Don’t fabricate, imitate!
Thank you for your
attention! Have a good
day!