The Teaching and Learning of Lexical Chunks: A Comparison of Observe Hypothesise Experiment and Presentation Practice Production.

Abstract

The focus of this study is the comparison of two teaching frameworks: Presentation Practice Production (PPP) and Observe Hypothesise Experiment (OHE) in the context of teaching twelve lexical chunks to two groups of twenty-one EAP students. An analysis of pre- and post-test scores demonstrated that both frameworks were successful in aiding students’ productive and receptive knowledge of the target language. The question as to whether one framework was more effective than the other in the context studied was answered negatively, since no statistically significant difference between the treatment types was found. The results suggest that both input and output oriented activities can aid the acquisition of chunks to the same extent and thus, perhaps, the choice between these frameworks may be more dependent on teaching and learning styles than upon their impact on the acquisition of formulaic language.

Key words: Observe Hypothesise Experiment, Presentation Practice Production, formulaic language, lexical chunks, productive knowledge, receptive knowledge, input oriented activities, output oriented activities