Closer: Teach Idiom and Collocation

After introducing a reading, spend some time going over its idioms and collocations, those formulaic expressions that occur together. The teacher can give the first examples, just by skimming the first paragraph or so of any text, such as the students’ current reading: “at large” “effect on,” “delicate balance” are examples of such expressions. Discuss the meaning of these expressions, and point out their relatively fixed nature: speakers can talk about the public “at large,” for example, but not the public “at big.” As a follow up, have the students work in pairs to skim the text for other such expressions.

 

This is a useful lesson because it raises awareness in students of how words occur together, an understanding that is very important in being truly fluent in a language. To write or speak effectively, students must know which words go together.