Make up your own “cobweb” association with the word
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House
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When people are speaking or writing, their choice of words is influenced by the situation they are in. A variety of the language in a communicative situation is called a language style. It may be appropriate to use an informal style with close friends, a neutral style with business acquaintances, a formal style with an employer. Often in communication it is necessary to select specific vocabulary that helps convey the message in the best way. People switch the vocabulary use when they talk to different specialists or non-specialists, to adults or children, to indifferent or sensitive people. The selection of vocabulary for the purpose of achieving the best communicative result is called language register.
Exploratory task 1.19 Find the way of saying the same things to small children
| Adult technical register | Child’s register |
| They are excavating the ruins now | |
| She is undergoing the appendectomy | |
| Dissolve the powder in the water and shake the solution | |
| Turn off all electronic appliances before boarding | |
| Season lightly and simmer for five minutes | |
| No sweat without sweat | |
| Click the mouse and drag the icon into the game area |
(Adapted from Harmer, J. and R. Rossner. 1991. More than Words. Book 1. Longman. P. 21-22)
Ample mental lexicon is an important condition for achieving lexical competence. Lexical competence is an essential part of the communicative competence as a whole. In order to be “the master of the word” one has to know how to express the denoted meaning. It is necessary to develop an individual system of verbal associations and to build a semantic field of the words related in a certain meaning (field of “food”, “health”, “job” etc.). It is necessary to know the social conventions (rules and limitations) of using the word and the stylistic colouring. Grammar usage of the word is essential as well as possible collocations. Finally, it necessary to comprehend the “referred connotative meaning” of the word, i.e. to understand what the word means “here and now” in the situation. Sometimes even the knowledge of metaphors and idioms is not enough for there is a lot of individual meaning that is put into words in the process of communication. The acquisition of these components is incremental, i.e. step-by-step. (After Schmitt, M. Tracking the incremental acquisition of second language vocabulary. A Longitudinal Study. Language Learning. Vol. 48. No. 2. June 1998).
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SAQ 1.2
Match the use of words in bold type and the elements of “lexical competence” necessary to use the words
| Words | Competence |
| 1. Calibre of a man | A. Denoted meaning |
| 2. Give me some prunes | B. Verbal associations |
| 3. The sky, the birds, the dawn … | C. Semantic field |
| 4. He can live with his partner … | D. Social conventions |
| 5. Nothing can influence her | E. Grammar |
| 6. The word is a real jaw-breaker | F. Collocations |
| 7. Only when the milk sets … | G. Connotation |
| 8. All you need is industry and zeal … | H. Metaphor |
| 9. Can’t make merry, make money … | I. Idiom |
| 10. All these young hopefuls … | J. Individual meaning |
Input reading 2
Vocabulary acquisition
The process of vocabulary acquisition has certain “laws” of its own. E.g. The first encounter with the word is sometimes more important than its frequency in exercises. That is why it is essential to “prime” the word, i.e. to prepare the learners for the encounter with the new word through activation of prior knowledge and creating the necessity of using the word. Development of vocabulary in mind depends on the complexity of the concepts that are expressed with the help of words. E.g. words with a concrete meaning are acquired easier and sooner than abstract meaning words. Learners acquire separate meanings of a word. First they acquire one component of meaning and then another. Basic terms (e.g. potato) are learned before superordinate words (vegetables). The storage of words in memory depends on the depth of meaning processing. The deeper learners get the meaning of the words in examples and associations, the stronger will memory traces be. Receptive skills come before productive skills and the learners find it easier first to understand a word and then to use it. The knowledge of a vocabulary item comes before the knowledge of a vocabulary collocation i.e. first the learners acquire words and then learn how to combine them in collocations. Words are best remembered in their situational context (combination with other words) but situation context can limit the potential use of the words to particular situations only. In a motivating activity the word is remembered strongest. Motivating activities are more important than continuous repetitions. (After Cook V. 1991. Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. OUP)
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Exploratory task 2.1
Rate the following activities according to the depth of processing lexical meaning. Prove your decision.
| Task 1. Choose the pictures that show how these people feel. Use on of the words given: , great, in heaven, so-so, not great, bad, awful, terrible, horrible. |
| Task 2. How can the following vegetables be cooked: beans, broccoli, aubergines, celery, onions, leeks, spinach, asparagus, potatoes, mushrooms? |
| Task 3. What professions will need the following qualities: determination, original ideas, great courage, a lot of luck, broad mind, imagination, excellent memory. |
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