Teaching Lexically: Principles and Practice

Delta Teacher Development Series

by Hugh Dellar, Andrew Walkley

From the multi-award-winning Delta Teacher Development Series. Teaching Lexically shows what a lexical view of language looks like, and explores how it differs from a more traditional 'grammar + words' view. It then considers what implications such a view might have for classroom practice. At the heart of Teaching Lexically are three main ideas: * Grammar and vocabulary are both taught better in combination. * Context is absolutely central. * Classrooms need to be input-rich; and input needs to be useful. Teaching Lexically contains three distinctive parts which focus in turn on theory, practice and development. Part A provides a detailed exploration of the core ideas behind lexical teaching. The authors begin with the principles that explain how and why people learn, before presenting two competing views of language - 'grammar + words' (and skills) and a lexical view. They close with an in-depth exploration of how language looks when seen from a lexical perspective. Part B contains a bank of activities that puts into practice the particular principles related to such areas of teaching as vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, and so on. These activities are designed to be applied to any classroom material, and to help teachers build up their own repertoire of lexically-rooted techniques. Part C addresses some of the issues and implications involved in where and how lexical teaching may be applied. It also considers how teacher training and development can become more lexically-oriented, finally suggesting ways to develop as a lexical materials writer.

152 pages, Paperback

Published July 31, 2016

Reviews

[Sandy Millin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on and off over the last few months (off because other people borrowed it!) There are so many great ideas in the book, and I want to try them out with my students. It helped me to understand how the Lexical Approach can work in the classroom, and how I can exploit language far more with my students. The layout of section B, with a principle, practising the principle, and applying the principle, is very clear and easy to follow, and there are worked examples throughout. I feel like this is a book I will refer to again and again.

[Alena Gradoboeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost 5 years of reading, thinking, rereading, abandoning, rethinking and finally, here I am - have just read the last line.
Practical, thought provoking and a very generous work of Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley. Thank you!

[Iryna Donchenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bible for every lexical teacher!