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Learning Language in Chunks拷貝

The document discusses the impact of Michael Lewis's 1993 publication, The Lexical Approach, which challenged traditional views of language as merely grammatical structures. Lewis proposed that language consists of 'chunks' that create coherent text, including collocations, fixed expressions, and idioms. The paper examines the application of the Lexical Approach and the research supporting it, 25 years after its introduction.

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3 views

Learning Language in Chunks拷貝

The document discusses the impact of Michael Lewis's 1993 publication, The Lexical Approach, which challenged traditional views of language as merely grammatical structures. Lewis proposed that language consists of 'chunks' that create coherent text, including collocations, fixed expressions, and idioms. The paper examines the application of the Lexical Approach and the research supporting it, 25 years after its introduction.

Uploaded by

lty56631
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

It was over 25 years ago that Michael Lewis published


The Lexical Approach (Lewis, 1993), prompting a
radical re-think of the way that we view language –
and, by extension, of the way that we teach it.

In contrast to the then prevailing structural account, in


which language was viewed as comprising grammatical
structures into which single words are slotted, Lewis argued
that ‘language consists of chunks which, when combined,
produce continuous coherent text’ (Lewis, 1997: 7).

By ‘chunks’, Lewis was referring to everything from:

• collocations (wrong way, give way, the way forward)

• fixed expressions (by the way, in the way)

• formulaic utterances (I’m on my way; no way!)

• sentence starters (I like the way…)

• verb patterns (to make/fight/elbow one’s way…)

• idioms and catchphrases (the third way; way to go!)

… everything, in fact, that doesn’t fit neatly into


the categories of either grammar (as traditionally
conceived) or single-word vocabulary.

Lewis was by no means the first to describe language


in these terms: his singular contribution was to
argue that, in order to accommodate this alternative
description, it was language teaching that needed
to be reformed – or, indeed, revolutionised.

This paper charts the extent to which the Lexical Approach,


or ‘learning language as chunks’, as Lewis and subsequent
scholars conceived it, is being applied a quarter of a century
on, and the research that underpins such an approach.

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