Page 23 - ELG1601 Aug-Sep Issue 439

August / September 2016 ELreviews Page 11

A lexical approach

Wayne Trotman looks at a fascinating new text Book of the month

which sees language as ‘grammaticalised lexis’

English through Drama – Creative long central chapter contains over seventy
Teaching Lexically: Principles ‘this is a view of language we its frequency of occurence in a activities for inclusive ELT classes activities, divided into four sections: ideas
and practice disagree with’, before setting out text. In the follow-up ‘practis- Susan Hillyard, Helbling Languages; related to moving the body, voice
Hugh Dellar and Andrew their alternative view based on ing the principle’ slot learners 978-3-9904-5409-1 development, group dynamics and fluency.
Walkley, Delta Publishing; Lewis and his declaration that, are asked which word in various The final two chapters provide six lesson
978-1-9097-8322-5 in contrast, language is ‘gram- pairs provided, such as ‘kilo’ or This book about teaching English through plans and eight original mini-scripts. The
maticalised lexis’ rather than ‘weight’, are the most frequent, drama is aimed at teachers with challenging author draws on research and her own vast
n their message to the reader ‘lexicalised grammar’. before being directed to online students. The introduction describes the experience. The book contains many creative
the authors separately and Clearly under the influ- learners’ dictionaries to check benefits which drama can bring to vulnerable ideas and techniques, including improvisation
Ifrankly admit the influence ence of Michael Hoey and his their ideas. Part B continues learners, and lists the varying needs of and mime. It moves beyond ELT. The key
of Michael Lewis, author of Lexical Priming (2005), the with a wide variety of principle students with learning difficulties. Chapter message, to embrace equality and diversity
the highly regarded The Lexi- authors support their views checking when teaching gram- one covers classroom management and change lives through drama, packs an
cal Approach (1993). Curiously, by referring to Hoey’s work, mar and the skills lexically. techniques, like giving clear instructions. The emotional punch.
both came to appreciate Lewis in which words that are to the As I spend much of my class-
as a result of attempts early in grammarian teacher apparently room time teaching writing, I
their careers to learn a second synonymous, such as result was particularly interested in the
language. What makes the title and consequence, according authors’ suggestions (page 122) Cambridge Academic Hofstede’s well-known 10-to-15-year-olds can
under review here different are to statistical analysis typically for providing language-focused English – An integrated dimensions of culture. The certainly help. It consists of six
the authors’ combined attempts function in markedly different feedback by using correction skills course for EAP, Upper ‘research tip’ boxes are helpful, units and is supported by a
to interpret Lewis’s work in ways depending on their con- codes, reformulations and expla- Intermediate and the content is informed by range of digital materials. The
order to make lexical teaching text and co-text. If you are nations, plus asking for students’ Martin Hewings, CUP; the Cambridge Academic ‘one lesson per page’ structure
more accessible, especially to already emphasising such mat- opinions on such matters. 978-0-5211-6520-4 English Corpus. The book makes it easy to use. One
those not having completed a ters with your classes, you are Part C covers choosing, includes authentic academic highlight is the ‘options’
Celta or Delta. It is, however, as indeed teaching lexically. The using and writing lexical This book can be easily used as texts and a useful wordlist of section, which provides four
Andrew Walkley points out, a remainder of this part uses the materials and assessing them, a stand-alone course for B2 academic vocabulary. Highly extra lessons per unit covering
teacher resource for adopting a collocation ‘have an argument’ teaching one-to-one, low-level students of all disciplines recommended. listening and speaking, project
lexical approach rather than the to indicate how the lexically and young learners, plus EAP aiming to study at university. work, culture and vocabulary
lexical approach. minded teacher can also work and exam classes. As well as There are ten main chapters, English Plus – Starter puzzles. Extra activities are
Those taking the Celta or on aspects such as genre, reg- the extensive bibliography five lecture skills units which Student’s Book included for fast-finishing
Delta now or in the near future ister, lexical sets, antonyms and and reading list, also covered provide practice in listening and Ben Wetz with Diana Pye, students. The book is visually
would be strongly advised to pragmatics. are teacher development and note-taking, and an OUP; appealing, with lively
read carefully Part A, the first Part B (most of the book) con- organising courses – all bases accompanying DVD. The topics 978-0-1947-4908-4 photographs, cartoons and
of three distinct sections, as it sists firstly of tasks for teaching covered. As a result, Teaching are appropriate for the target colour drawings. Teachers need
provides a detailed explana- lexically by giving clear expla- Lexically certainly deserves group, and include language and Teaching low-level learners can to supplement the contents with
tion of ideas central to lexical nations and good examples, and a place on the shelves of any communication, controversies, be challenging, but this pronunciation work. Worth
teaching. Briefly, this consists asking questions about words institution providing training health and an excellent focus on 96-page A1 course book for investigation.
of a description of the tradi- in order to elicit collocations. for the Celta and Delta; prob-
tional cosy approach to language Choosing words to teach on page ably multiple copies, in fact. n Reviews by Pete Sharma for the Bournemouth English Book Centre: www.bebc.co.uk
teaching, described as ‘grammar 36, like all tasks in this section,
plus words plus skills’. Unsur- first outlines a principle. In this Wayne Trotman is a teacher
prisingly, perhaps, the authors case, the importance to a learner educator at Izmir Katip Çelebi
state emphatically here how of any lexical item is related to University, Turkey

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