Kuimova M. V. SPORT COLLOCATIONS AT ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

Друк

PhD in Pedagogical science, Kuimova M.V.

National research Tomsk polytechnic university,

Tomsk, Russia

Sport collocations at English as a foreign language classes

 

Education ... is a painful, continual and difficult work to be done in kindness,

by watching, by warning, ... by praise,

but above all – by example.

John Ruskin

 

There is no doubt that vocabulary is the most important step in language acquisition. Thus a lecturer should use various interactive and interesting vocabulary exercises to make learning interesting and absorbing. In this paper we are going to give some advice how to teach sport collocations.

Collocation is an arrangement or juxtaposition of words or other elements, especially those that commonly co-occur, as rancid butter, bosom buddy, or dead serious [1].

The proper use of collocations has a number of advantages for language learners. Collocations:

  1. give the most natural way to say something;

  2. help express ideas more colourfully;

  3. help avoid repetition;

  4. improve and enrich oral and written speech.

There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun, adjective, etc. Some of the most common types are:

It is worth mentioning three verbs that collocate with sports:

A lecturer should use diverse exercises while working with collocations. For example:

Teaching collocations a lecturer should use frequently used vocabulary that students encounter in daily life or in a particular professional sphere.

To master collocations students should not only learn and revise them but also read as much as possible. It is well-known that reading is an excellent way to learn vocabulary and collocations in the context. Moreover, a lecturer should always encourage students listen and watch authentic materials like songs, films, radio and TV programs, etc.

References:

  1. The Free Online Dictionary. URL: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/collocation (accessed February 24, 2013).

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