A tribute to Michael Lewis RIP written in the form of a dialogue with my lexical buddy Ken. IATEFL Voices, Vol. 269 - July/August 2019
The State of Stative Verbs
Based on a blog post on here. ETAI Forum Vol. XXIX, No. 2
Of Homeopathy and Learning Styles
Heavily influenced by Russell Mayne. Check out his blog! ETAI Forum Vol. XXVII
Applied Linguistics: Misapplied, Unapplied, Inapplicable
Who is to blame for the ever-widening gap between research and practice: researchers who come up with findings that are often inapplicable, practitioners who don't apply the SLA research, or 'mediators' who misapply it. Modern English Teacher 2016, Vol 25(3)
A beginner's guide to teaching lexically
If you wanted to implement a more lexical approach - or start teaching more lexically - and didn't know where to start, the articles focuses on four key principles. EFL Magazine, 19 February 2016
Humanising Language Teaching: December 2013 (ed.)
Special 20th anniversary of the Lexical Approach issue jointly edited with Hania Kryszewska: HLT, Year 15, Issue 5, December 2013
ETAI Forum: Special Lexical Approach Issue (ed.)
Special Lexical Issue to celebrate 20 years since the publication of Michael Lewis's Lexical Approach
Guest editor: ETAI Forum, Vol XXIV, Fall 2013
Grammar rules... again?
Can learners learn English by mastering discrete grammar rules and then finding words to fill in the slots? Surely not. Then how come the role of chunk-learning in supporting language acquisition is still misunderstood?
The article can be found in Modern English Teacher 2013, Vol 22 (2)
Why has the Lexical Approach been so long in coming?
It's been 20 years since Michael Lewis drawing on the findings of corpus linguistics published "The Lexical Approach" which was meant to revolutionise language teaching. How come ELT remains resistant to change?
Follow the link to read the article in the Education section of The Guardian
Lexical notebooks or vocabulary cards
Which is a more effective way of recording vocabulary? The article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of both methods and provides a lot of useful links for further reading, investigation and experimentation.
Follow the link to read the article on the Teaching English website
Revisiting texts
How can learners get the maximum linguistic benefit out of texts they read? The article suggests ideas for highlighting lexical chunks and activities for recycling them.
Follow the link to read the article on the Teaching English website
Lexical Density in English
The article looks at the influence of French on the vocabulary of the English language in relation to synonymy and its implications for teaching.
Lexical Density in English
The article looks at the influence of French on the vocabulary of the English language in relation to synonymy and its implications for teaching.
The article can be found in Modern English Teacher 2012, Vol. 21(1)
Reproduced here with the kind permission of David Francis
Revising lexis: quality or quantity?
How many encounters with a lexical item are necessary before it is committed to memory? 6? 9? 12? 15? This article discusses how much heed language teachers should pay to vocabulary acquisition research, particularly with regard to repeated encounters with lexical items.
Follow the link to read the article on the Teaching English website
Revising lexis: quality or quantity?
How many encounters with a lexical item are necessary before it is committed to memory? 6? 9? 12? 15? This article discusses how much heed language teachers should pay to vocabulary acquisition research, particularly with regard to repeated encounters with lexical items.
Follow the link to read the article on the Teaching English website
Grammar vs lexis or grammar through lexis?
An article about the nature of language and learning where I reflect on grammar instruction in the classroom, including my own teaching and discuss the relationship between grammar and lexis. I argue that grammar should be "lexicalised" and taught in small but frequent portions.
Follow the link to read the article on the Teaching English website
More activities for recycling lexical chunks
Practical suggestions on how to use vocabulary cards to record collocations and activities for highlighting chunks in texts
Published in the ETAI Forum Vol XXII, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2011
Practical suggestions on how to use vocabulary cards to record collocations and activities for highlighting chunks in texts
Published in the ETAI Forum Vol XXII, No. 1, Spring/Summer 2011
A practical article with activities for recording, reviewing and recycling collocations.
Published in the ETAI Forum Vol XXI, No. 3, Fall 2010
Teaching grammar lexically
An article about how "difficult" grammatical structures can be taught lexically, by drawing students’ attention to co-text and providing them with lexical "crutches"
First published in the ETAI Forum Vol XX, No. 1, Winter 2009, a reprinted version can be found here
"Live" listening
The teacher as well as students themselves can be a source of listening input. In this task-based activity students listen to the teacher, extract useful lexical chunks and then try to activate them.
Follow this link to read the article in the ETAI Forum Vol XIX, No. 3, Summer 2008
Published in the ETAI Forum Vol XXI, No. 3, Fall 2010
Teaching grammar lexically
An article about how "difficult" grammatical structures can be taught lexically, by drawing students’ attention to co-text and providing them with lexical "crutches"
First published in the ETAI Forum Vol XX, No. 1, Winter 2009, a reprinted version can be found here
"Live" listening
The teacher as well as students themselves can be a source of listening input. In this task-based activity students listen to the teacher, extract useful lexical chunks and then try to activate them.
Follow this link to read the article in the ETAI Forum Vol XIX, No. 3, Summer 2008
