Why Word Building is not (to be taught as) a Skill Cover Image

Why Word Building is not (to be taught as) a Skill
Why Word Building is not (to be taught as) a Skill

Author(s): Adrian Ciupe
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Foreign languages learning
Published by: Universitatea »Babes Bolyai« Cluj - Facultatea de St. Economice si Gestiunea Afacerilor
Keywords: Business English; colligation; collocation; context; derivation; ESP; fallacy; fluency; input language; language certification exams; language chunks; lexical approach; logic; misnomer;

Summary/Abstract: Derivation, or `word building`, has long and heavily featured as a `skill`towards language (vocabulary) acquisition by learners of English, still being endorsed by popular and influential language certification exams like CambridgeCPE, CAE, FCE etc. This article sets out to disprove that `word building` is a viable teaching/testing/learning tool and makes the case for better suited lexical mastery strategies towards students’ fluency through a focus on phrasal context rather than maintaining a superseded insistence on decontextualised word units.

  • Issue Year: XVIII/2019
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 59-66
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: English