The Lexical Approach Between Grammar and Lexis: Theory and Practice

Abstract

Linguists characteristically regard language as a structured system. Their work has been almost entirely with those aspects of language whose system is most susceptible to scientific analysis – phonology and syntax. Linguists have had little to say about the lexical items and one can find few studies of practical interest to, particularly, language teachers. Linguists preoccupiedش themselves with grammar and adopted a view that the acquisition of a foreign language is centered mainly on the full control over the structural rules of it. we notice that methodologists' focus is on the subordination of lexical items teaching to grammar teaching. The range of lexical items should be deliberately limited while grammar is still being acquired so that the learners' powers of acquisition can be concentrated on what is important. Once the learner knows many grammatical frames, then to expand the number of words which can operate in frames is relatively a simple task and therefore, comes later. However, we need not accept the neglect of vocabulary in language teaching.