1 of 9

What are “chunks”?

2 of 9

“A group of words which forms a socially sanctioned unit of meaning”

​

​

​

Source:Paul Davis and Hanna Kryszewska(2012)

3 of 9

Can you guess the different “chunk types”?

4 of 9

����1. C-ll-c-t—ns�2. P-----l v---s�3. I----s�4. D-------- M------�5. S------- H---s�6. S----l F-------e�7. Ex---------s�8. C-------s

5 of 9

Examples of the 8 chunk types

  1. Get up
  2. Strong or weak tea
  3. Once in a blue moon
  4. Right/You know/Anyway/As I was saying….
  5. Could you…………………? / Why not……………………….?
  6. Have a nice day!
  7. Trick or treat!/ Good God!
  8. Credit card

​

​

​

​

​

​

6 of 9

Phrasal verbs-some basic suggestions

  1. Look at the grammar +pron. (higher levels?) i.e the four types
  2. Use visuals to make meaning clearer
  3. Use dictionaries to indicate if they are seperable or inseperable
  4. Get students to record them (meaning, grammar, pronunciation, example, visual?)

​

​

7 of 9

​

​

8 of 9

Phrasal verbs-some activities

  1. Matching: Pelmanism (on cards), Match it (Triptico), Pasapalabra
  2. Board Games
  3. Phrasal Verb Blurbs (Headway Advanced) – for phrasal verbs with different meanings
  4. Find Someone Who (Lindsay Clandfield)
  5. Acting Out (from situation prompts which include phrasal verbs)
  6. Dictogloss
  7. Casino (Write sentences with Latinate verbs: students have to rewrite them with phrasal verbs)
  8. Phrasal Verb Race
  9. Phrasal Verb Jeopardy
  10. Phrasal Verbs with “Get” (British Council Lesson)
  11. Chain story (higher levels?)

​

​

​

​

9 of 9

Other chunks-some activities

  1. Reading aloud and chunking (good for people who have to do presentations)
  2. Use texts to contextualize chunks (eg. Invent a story to contextualize/present chunks with “get”)
  3. Memorizing short dialogues with chunks (Beginner to Pre-Int)
  4. What are those initials for? –Use to recall chunks in a text
  5. Questionnaire with “chunk” answers (Beginner to pre-Int)
  6. Weather phrases
  7. Horse idioms
  8. Boxing idioms
  9. What does “it” mean here?
  10. Noticing patterns of sound repetition
  11. Using chunks in mini-stories
  12. Review posters
  13. Chunk quiz (review activity)
  14. Guess my chunk (20 questions, charades, pictionary, back to the board, guess the initials)

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​