ELT Course Reflection Paper: Teaching Lexically
Gary Yauri Mayorca
November 2012
Lima-Centro
ELT Course Reflection Paper: “Teaching Lexically”
Having had the opportunity to take different ELT courses, I cannot stress how much methodological-insight I gained upon my successful completion of this course. “What should I emphasize during each lesson-objective?” and “How will this activity maximize the students learning-awareness?” This course made me see that these two questions are pivotal to the development of any lesson plan or didactic material to be used by students.
A person's word bank, Lexis, or Lexicon if you will, is the ultimate means to successfully break a language barrier even if with a poor grammar usage (although the term “poor” could be argued since it can now be considered not as poor but rather as the “inter language” stage between L1 and L2). Why would I be so certain about such claim being based on a single course? I say this because I lived it myself during my experience in the U.S. as a second language learner, when I had to communicate with native speakers in order to get by, using “lexical chunks” that worked effectively time after time while most of the time I really didn't have a keen understanding of each grammatical structure that held together the “chunk” of Lexis that I used. “How much is this/are these _____?” “I'd like to have a/an _____ for here / to go, please” How did I know that these expressions were the appropriate ones to use having not had a “formal” classroom explanation of “much vs many” or “I'd like vs I like”? the answer, a “natural” intuitive awareness of high frequency Lexis being used in context right in front of me, most of the time, while waiting in line and listening to those ahead of me having successful exchanges, some other times while sitting on the bus and over hearing language-rich strangers' conversations, and once again taking such and other opportunities to pick up repetitive random Lexis, thus becoming more aware of the different contexts of
November 2012
Lima-Centro
ELT Course Reflection Paper: “Teaching Lexically”
Having had the opportunity to take different ELT courses, I cannot stress how much methodological-insight I gained upon my successful completion of this course. “What should I emphasize during each lesson-objective?” and “How will this activity maximize the students learning-awareness?” This course made me see that these two questions are pivotal to the development of any lesson plan or didactic material to be used by students.
A person's word bank, Lexis, or Lexicon if you will, is the ultimate means to successfully break a language barrier even if with a poor grammar usage (although the term “poor” could be argued since it can now be considered not as poor but rather as the “inter language” stage between L1 and L2). Why would I be so certain about such claim being based on a single course? I say this because I lived it myself during my experience in the U.S. as a second language learner, when I had to communicate with native speakers in order to get by, using “lexical chunks” that worked effectively time after time while most of the time I really didn't have a keen understanding of each grammatical structure that held together the “chunk” of Lexis that I used. “How much is this/are these _____?” “I'd like to have a/an _____ for here / to go, please” How did I know that these expressions were the appropriate ones to use having not had a “formal” classroom explanation of “much vs many” or “I'd like vs I like”? the answer, a “natural” intuitive awareness of high frequency Lexis being used in context right in front of me, most of the time, while waiting in line and listening to those ahead of me having successful exchanges, some other times while sitting on the bus and over hearing language-rich strangers' conversations, and once again taking such and other opportunities to pick up repetitive random Lexis, thus becoming more aware of the different contexts of