Kinds of lexical habit

While teaching lexical material, the teacher’s main concern should be forming lexical habits. According to S.F. Shatilov’s definition, ‘lexical expressive and receptive-active speech habits are the habits of intuitively correct forming, using and understanding target-language lexis on the basis of speech lexical links between oral-speech kinaesthetic and graphic forms of a word and its meaning, as well as connections between the target language words’.

Lexical correctness of speech is determined by the stability of the lexical speech habits.

Taking into account different layers of lexical input and both receptive and productive character of the corresponding skill, it is necessary to distinguish between receptive and reproductive lexical habits.

Receptive lexical habits are the habits of identification and understanding lexical items of active and passive minima while reading and listening. Forming receptive lexical habits is achieved through consolidation of the following operations with lexical material:

1) identification and isolation of lexical items out of a flow of speech while listening or reading;

2) understanding the meaning of lexical items with the account of the arrangement of a syntagm, a phrase and a SPHU;

3) integration of the lexical meaning while forming the complex meaning of a syntagm, a phrase and a SPHU.

Reproductive lexical habits are the habits to correctly use the lexical items of the active vocabulary minimum in accordance with a communicative situation and the purpose of communication while speaking and writing. Forming reproductive lexical habits is achieved through consolidation of the following operations with lexical material:

1) recalling the necessary lexical item from the long-term memory and its actuation in accordance with the communicative intention;

2) combining and inserting into the operative memory lexical items recalled in this way. In the process of combining, lexical and grammatical combinability rules are strictly observed in accordance with the target language norms;

3) extrinsic verbal realisation of lexical items in a flow of speech by way of uttering or writing them within a syntagm and phrases.

It should be noted that singling out the lexical operations mentioned above is an abstraction done for the sake of analysis. Separate operations frequently converge, a particular operation performance may be closely connected with or conditioned by performing other operations. However, each operation is of real character and can be observed while analysing the process of communication.

Understanding the structure of lexical operations helps choosing main types and kinds of lexical exercises, aimed at their consolidation, i.e. at forming and developing lexical habits. Performing these exercises is to ensure functioning of the lexical side of the speech mechanism.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13