ANALYZE the MEANING of LEXICAL ITEMS

Thee are three ways of doing it, looking at :

1. The components of meaning of lexical items,

2. The meaning of lexical items in context,

3. Meaning in relation to other words.

COMPONENTS of MEANING

• The definition : should use language that Ss understand or avoid using more complex grammar;

• Distinction between (1) the everyday meaning and (2) the much rarer second usage;

• Examples of how the word might be used

• Common everyday knowledge, feelings and reactions that we carry around in our head ( about the word ).

T HELPS Ss UNDERSTAND THE MEANING of LEXICAL ITEMS by :

1. Avoiding language more complex than the word he/she’s trying to explain (e.g. avoid complex grammar, keep sentences short );

2. Focusing on the most important usages;

3. Using examples;

4. Using his/her own and the Ss’ knowledge and feelings to focus on what we understand by this word.

WAYS to HELP Ss UNDERSTAND COLLOCATIONS through MEANING in CONTEXT

• Pointing out collocations when they occur;• Designing activities that focus attention on the collocations of

particular lexical items ( eg finding a number of words that might come after );

• Encouraging the use of dictionary research to check whether a collocation is typical or not;

• Setting text gap-fill exercises;• Asking learners to guess meaning from clues in the context, rather

than always relying on explanations or dictionaries;• Getting learners to predict likely meanings or lexical items before

seeing or hearing a text ( eg the story is about two people arriving in a strange town at night. What words do you think might be in the story ? ).

RELATION BETWEEN WORDS

• ANTONYMS or OPPOSITES : hot and cold

• UNGRADABLE ANTONYMS : on and off

• SYNONYMS : stroll and amble

• ONE WORD INCLUDES THE OTHER : drink and lemonade

• A GROUP of SUBJECT : gardening: flower, pot, spade, seeds

• FORMATION of ROOT WORD ( by adding prefixes or suffixes ) : nation – national – international – internationalist.