Words That Go Together
Rather than teach individual words, why not teach phrases, "chunks" and words that are "sticky"?
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Grammar is important but without words, you can’t teach grammar.
That quote is one that sits in your head and makes a case for teaching vocabulary or even grammaticalized lexis.
There are many ways to teach vocabulary in the classroom. The infographic below outlines many. However, the best use of class time when teaching vocabulary is probably to concentrate on words that stick together, that go together. Phrases, clauses, expressions, collocations and chunks.
Here are a few ideas for teaching “groups of words”, words that usually go together.
Collocations. Collocations are words that more often than not, go together. Phrasal verbs are good examples of what collocations are. Get in, look for, talk about, etc … See the great video WORDS for a perfect resource to teach collocations. Or see our full booklet.
Chunks. Chunks are larger groups of words that go together. For example, when making excuses - “Sorry, I had to …” “I can’t because …” . See our full language workbook focusing on chunks - Get Talking.
Expressions. Sentence starters. Students need to learn the words, and clauses that serve particular language functions. Teach students these phrases to use in different situations. Sentence starters are great at that. Also, try our Finish it off - prompt generator.
Binomials. Binomials are two words that always go together in a set order. For example, “salt and pepper”. Saying “pepper and salt” is just awkward. List some halves of common binomials and then have students finish them or match them with flashcards.
Idioms. Idioms are phrases, sets of words that convey a meaning different from their logical meaning. Sets of words for conveying meaning that students just have to learn and memorize, better to learn them in use and context. See this video full of idioms - how many can your students identify?
Compounds. Compounds are two separate words that make a unique new word. Tooth+Brush = toothbrush. Word flashcards work well and have students match the words together to make the correct compounds.
Enjoy using some of these ideas in class and getting students to learn not just words but groups of words!