Learner training Strategies (reading, listening,
exams)
Main aim Sts will be able to students take
more control of and
responsibility for their own
learning by learning to use
lexical tools to find likely
collocations with verbs
Sts will be more aware of the
difference between a
translator and an E-E
dictionary and will learn how
to use them more effectively
(Google translate vs
oxfordlearnersdictionary)
Contextual lead-in
Context (reading for gist)
Test 1 sts think of possible collocations
to identify how well sts can … with the verbs from the text
(no feedback!)
or sts complete a grid (which
nouns do these verbs collocate
with?)
Raising-awareness
By the end of the lesson sts will be
more aware of the step-by-step
strategy of deducing the meaning of
unknown words in order to develop
their reading skills
sts deduce the meaning of 1 or 2
words from the context
alternatively, sts match new words
with their definitions
or answer a few different questions
about 2-3 new words (part of speech,
the meaning of prefixes)
By the end of the lesson
sts will be more aware of
the importance of
collocation
get sts to find five useful
words or phrases that occur
around a certain topic
alternatively, get sts to
translate some collocations
from L1 to L2
or sts match some
collocations from the text
or give sts a list of words and
have them find what the
words are used with
Teach
Test 2 Practice
Learner-training stage
to encourage sts to practice and
reflect on the effectiveness of the
tool/ strategy
Language Practice
Controlled and/or freer practice
If time permits, this can be done
T demonstrates how to use the
tool, provides the criteria for
choosing collocations
T lets one of the sts (the
strongest one/ the quickest) use
the tool and provides guidance
Sts use the tool to find
appropriate collocations in pairs
or small groups (to check their
answers to test 1)
Sts change partners to work with
peers from other groups and
share their findings
higher level: students use
different tools to find collocations
for the same words and then
share their findings
T monitors and provides support
and extra guidance where
necessary
● reconstruct the content of a text from a few words only serves to highlight the central importance
T invites sts to work out a step-by-
step strategy to guess the meaning
of unknown words by asking
questions to guide them and using
the sentences from the context to
illustrate the strategy.
sts use the text they have read at the
beginning of the lesson to deduce
the meaning of other 3 words using
the suggested strategy.
Sts work in different groups this time.
● Personalization
● Questions with the words
● Creating a story
familiarize sts with the
concept of collocations,
introduce sts to 5 types of
collocations (V+N, Adj+N etc)
demonstrate the importance
of looking for a collocation
rather than a single word
teach sts to find key/ central
words or topic-related
vocabulary, look right and
left, what sts should pay
attention to
sts look at the list of phrases
they chose during test 1 and
decide which of them ARE
collocations
sts find more collocations
using the patterns
and/ or
T asks sts to find further
possible collocations with
certain items in the text using
a collocation dictionary
in the same lesson or in the
subsequent lesson
Reflection
to reflect on the effectiveness of
the tool/ strategy and the
progress made during the lesson
of collocations as against individual words
● How easy or difficult was Why is it not a good idea to use a
it? dictionary straightaway? Why is it important to check
● Do you find these tools collocations?
useful? Is it a necessary skill? Why?
● Do you think you are ● to increase language
going to use these tools? ● to encourage more productive learners’ fluency
● In what situations can you use of words ●
use these tools on your ● to use language more
own? ● to be able to choose the right productively
● Which is more useful, a meaning because words have
translator or an E-E different meanings, part of ● to avoid making
dictionary? When are you speech mistakes
going to use which?
● to become better and more ● to sound more natural
fluent readers and native-like
We use the same strategy in L1. If
sts use the strategy on a regular
basis, it will become more automatic
and will take them a few seconds,
just like in their native language