Monday, April 20, 2015

UNIT 2 LEXIS

In Unit 2, I learned about Lexis.  First of all, for me lexis are words or set of words which have a specific meaning.  I would point out the most important kinds for me. First, denotation meaning is the meaning that describes the thing or idea behind the vocabulary item (e.g. Flower = vocabulary item /denotation meaning of this example is a red rose with a green stem) while the connotation meaning is what the denotation meaning represents (e.g. Flower = vocabulary item / connotation meaning it is a symbol of love).

I analyzed that other kinds of meaning come from some vocabulary items form (e.g. Affixes and compounds). Likewise we have idioms those are fixed expressions that cannot be traduce literally into another language.  Additionally we have chunks those are phrases usually learn as a one piece (e.g. Nice to meet you). Furthermore, I learned what are false friends, those are words  that have a similar spelling in two languages but do not have the same meaning.I reflected deeply about this case  as a language learner  is  commomly though that a word written in the same form  in our first language and means the same when learning second language (e.g. nose= naris in English/ nose=no saber in Spanish) I have realized that something similar to this happens in a language and it is called Homophones. Homophones are the words of a same language with the same pronunciation but with a different meaning or spelling (e.g. peace and piece).All these kind of meanings we have to know in order to be competence in a language. I consider that learning a language is mastering its lexis.


As a conclusion I could said that learning lexis is very important for a language learner, because that lexis is going to be useful for conveying correct meanings in written or spoken way. We as future teachers must be sure students know very well the special case of false friends, because they tend to misunderstand meanings . So we may point out that kind of cases and explain it very well.

This video will explain more about Lexis.
References: 

Videos

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJgTDBYPH5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7VLTYcRgKY


For your  further reading:


Arnaud, P. (1992). Vocabulary and applied linguistics. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan.

Nation, I. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.




3 comments:

  1. That's true. Lexis or vocabulary is very important for learners in all levels. If we focus on beginners, this is an interesting way how we can make them like the language. So, since know personallly I will be more careful with vocabulary and choose the best one for my future students.

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  2. I agree with you , lexis is the base to develop student´s vocabulary and the connection part to build their knowledge in the learning acquisition process of a foreign language.Then, students could manage an appropriate competence of the language .

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  3. Thanks for sharing your ideas about lexis with me. I have to say that I totally agree with you. Lexis is very important for me us a student and as a future teacher, but lexis is very imprtant for learners, too. Personally, I can say that I payed more attention in the future to teach lexis and to find the best method to teach it, too.

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