A Bag of Lexis: Lexical Approach in Blended Learning

Abstract

There is always a need to put a spin on the traditional course book-led lessons for English as a foreign language. Moreover, the constant demand for adapting to the students’ pace and needs as well as keeping them entertained and motivated can be challenging at best. Our project is basically a guide to travelling around the British Isles, visiting a variety of cities and places, covering everyday topics and experiences in an engaging and fun way. Being uploaded on an online platform, this can all be done without leaving the classroom. The two-year project has been developed by considering students aged between 15 and 20 years old enrolled in a vocational school for healthcare and social work and the topics required by the curriculum. Even though the research is still at an experimental stage, the outcome has been positive. This system allows the freedom to scale and add more destinations as well as to adapt to the required level of English, in our case ranging from pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate levels, and of course to apply it to any subject or field. The theory behind this idea is based on Lewis’ Lexical Approach and Levine’s Global Simulation, since both theories stress the idea that context makes language more meaningful. Our project gives students a context, as close to everyday situations as possible, as well as the necessary patterns of language and chunks. Don’t say ‘turn to page 25’, do say ‘Let’s check the train timetable to Edinburgh’.

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Author Information
Marco Abbondio, Centro Professionale Sociosanitario-Scuola Specializzata per le Professioni Sanitarie e Sociali, Switzerland
Sandra Gianinazzi Aliverti, Centro Professionale Sociosanitario-Scuola Specializzata per le Professioni Sanitarie e Sociali, Switzerland
Nicola Martignoni Webster, Centro Professionale Sociosanitario-Scuola Specializzata per le Professioni Sanitarie e Sociali, Switzerland

• Category: Learning Environments

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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