INSTRUCTION: Read the text to answer questions 26 to 28.

It is widely recognized that second language (L2) mental lexicon must be independent of its first language (L1) counterpart, if learners are to use the target language effectively and fluently. The purpose for the L2 vocabulary is to be stored in much the same way as L1, which has two significant implications:

• learners do not access their L2 lexicon by means of translating and so can save processing time while improving their fluency and

• L1 does not interfere and so the target language produced is more native-like.

It is easy to observe that there is a whole area of functional language, usually in the form of fixed expressions or sentence frames, _______ is impossible to acquire on productive level unless learners have developed their own independent mental lexicons in L2. The reason is clear-cut. These items cannot be efficiently accessed through the process of translating from L1 to L2.

This is also true of other areas of vocabulary, such as some collocations or discourse markers. Take the word ‘actually’ for example which is very frequent in spoken English. Most learners’ dictionaries give definitions which begin with ‘used in/as/to ...’ followed by a description of context in which the word usually occurs. This single fact suggests that learners may have to link certain items of vocabulary to context rather than anything else.

Clearly, if we are to help the learners acquire independent L2 lexicons, we need to highlight the importance of the context in which the language naturally occurs. Once the idea of context playing a decisive role in the choice of language is firmly established, we can begin to introduce varieties of the language used in different contexts, such as cultural and regional, social or situational. However, the reality of L2 instruction heavily exploiting EFL materials rife with all too notorious fill-in exercises, where sentences are artificially constructed and/or lacking any context whatsoever is rather saddening.

Jiri Brazda, teacher, Czech Republic.

Available at: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/contextdeveloping-activities. Accessed on: Dec 20, 2021.