THE LEXICAL APPROACH TO EFL TEACHING: METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
Keywords:
English as a foreign language, lexical approach, lexical phrase hypothesis, accuracy, fluency, vocabulary, lexical unit, collocationAbstract
The present paper explores the theoretical basis of the lexical approach to EFL teaching. The lexical approach to EFL teaching was introduced as an alternative to grammar-based foreign language teaching to challenge the traditionally accepted dichotomy grammar-lexis according to which language was viewed as a system of grammatical structures and a set of isolated vocabulary items. It gave priority to lexis to acknowledge that lexical phrases or chunks are the raw data by which learners perceive patterns of language traditionally thought of as grammar. Alongside the total physical response, the silent way, suggestopedia, community language learning, multiple intelligences, etc., the lexical approach is referred to a set of alternative approaches and methods in language teaching which are hardly ever addressed by national EFL curricula. Therefore, the research focusing on the methodological foundations underlying the lexical approach and its pedagogical implications for EFL teaching proves to be topical. Effective application of any new teaching technique in the EFL classroom implies the combination of teacher’s awareness of its theoretical basis and practical skills to put it to practice. In this respect, the present paper aims to describe what the lexical approach means with a special focus on the lexical phrase hypothesis as its theoretical basis and the typology of lexical units.
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