UNIT 2 : LEXIS

In this unit, I reviewed information about lexis and I understood that it refers to units of vocabulary that have a specific meaning; such as, get up or first of all. In contrast, according to Admin (2012) lexis is the combination of vocabulary plus grammar due to it involves collocations, formulated expressions and certain patterns associated with grammar, e.g. If I were you…, I haven’t seen you for ages.

On the other hand, I also learned that a vocabulary item can be defined in different ways.The first way is to find the meaning through the same word, it is called “denotative meaning”. The second way is the figurative meaning that is based on an imaginary meaning of a word or set of words; such as, a family tree. The third way can be identified as the meaning from context. It means that we have to use the content which is around a word to understand its meaning.

Additionally,I also analysed that some words show their meaning depending on their forms. For instance, affixes, compounds, collocations, idioms, chunks, lexical sets and word family. Besides, it is important to mention that affixes are divided into prefixes and suffixes which allow us to learn more vocabulary of the language. Furthermore, it's worth say that both suffixes and prefixes have their own  characteristics of formation. For example, Shrives (2017) points out that prefixes are letters added before a word while suffixes are letters added after a word. Otherwise, I learned that there are words that affect lexis because they have a relation with other languages. Some examples of them are false friends, homophones, homonyms and varieties of English. That's why,it is necessary to make students recognize the form and the meaning of words;nevertheless, I believe that these features should be taught through interesting activities. According to Bafile (2016) the most appropriate activities can be puzzles, mystery word or pyramid power to make them learn the new vocabulary in a funny way.

In conclusion, I think it is important to teach lexis to allow students to know the meaning of whatever word, so they can avoid having problems with the target language. However, it is important to emphasize that the good choice of activities to be applied in the classroom can benefit this learning. In this way, they can improve their mistakes in the new language in an easy and enjoyable way. 

REFERENCES:

Admin. (2012). Grammar vs lexis or grammar through lexis? Retrieved from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/grammar-vs-lexis-or-grammar-through-lexis

Bafile, C. (2016). Vocabulary and Spelling: Do Your Students Say 'Boring'? Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson241.shtml

Shrives, C. (2017). What Are Affixes (grammar lesson). Grammar-monster.com. Retrieved from http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/affixes.htm