An Exploration Of Lexical Approach In The Teaching Of IELTS Argumentative Writing

There is no denying that the role played by vocabulary can never be ignored in the text. Michael Lewis(1993) once said that language is not lexicalized grammar but grammaticalized lexis. The research on the function of lexis in the text has been well conducted. However, no systematic research has ever been conducted on the application of Michael Hoey's(1991) and Nattinger's(1992) lexical theory to the filed of IELTS argumentative writing. IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System, available worldwide. It is the most widely recognized assessment of English language proficiency for overseas candidates wishing to study or train in educational institutions in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other European countries. Due to its vast popularity, the number of people taking the exam has increased dramatically and many Chinese people are longing to go abroad to study. However, they have encountered great difficulty in the writing module of the test. Therefore, it is of high necessity to conduct research on how to succeed in IELTS writing. This paper sets out to apply Michael Hoey's theory of lexical cohesion and Nattinger's theory of lexical phrases to the teaching of writing in the hope that the research may shed some light on IELTS argumentative writing and other types of argumentative writings such as TEM 4 or CET 4 or 6. This paper consists of three parts. The first part is the introduction of the paper. It first consists in some lexical theories and then reveals the necessity of conducting this research. The second part is the body of the paper composed of chapter 2, 3, 4 and 5. Chapter 2 is a retrospect on IELTS writing. It specifies the characteristics and principles governing scoring of IELTS writing from which we may draw the conclusion that lexis is the key to solving candidates' problems instead of grammar. Chapter 3 introduces the current popular lexical theories especially those of Michael Hoey's and Nattinger's. Chapter 4 is devoted to scrutinizing Chinese candidates' writing papers in the hope that their problems with the use of lexis may be found out, thus corroborating the necessity of applying lexical theories to IELTS argumentative writing. Chapter 5 focuses on the verification of the above-mentioned lexical theories and the application to solving writing problems with the use of lexis. Then the paper leads to the conclusion that a lexical approach, the use of these two theories, might be able to help IELTS students overcome their difficulties in writing, which might be applicable to the teaching of writing for TEM 4 or CET 4 or 6.