When you listen to BBC World Service radio, there are probably phrases or groups of words which you hear together all the time. For example, when announcers begin talking about a programme which is about to start, they usually say ‘Coming up next is…’. In this situation, ‘coming up next’ is a chunk of language – a phrase or group of words which you hear together all the time. But why are chunks important for better speaking? First of all, have a look at an extract from an interview with Icelandic singer, Bjork, talking about her albums ‘Debut’ and ‘Post’.
I’ve always thought of Debut and Post as twins.They’re sort of before and after I learned to do things well. And I think that after this I’ll move on to different sorts of things. But the concept with Debut and Post was that they were the week in the life of a normal person and all the ups and downs you have – all the things you can’t plan. So that’s what Debut and Post represent – that you can’t plan your life and you’re not supposed to. Just live life to the full and take it as it comes.
Question a) What are the ideas which link Bjork’s albums Debut and Post?
Question b) Look at the groups of words which are underlined. Can you paraphrase them?
Answer
As you can see from Bjork’s interview, she is very comfortable speaking in English, although this is not her first language. Most importantly, she uses the types of phrases or groups of words which make her sound natural. When learning English, it’s very important to notice how words are often heard together. For example, Bjork says she’ll do ‘different sorts of things’. In this context, ‘sorts’ means the same as ‘types’ – but we would not usually say ‘different types of things’.This linking together of words is called collocation. So, we can say that ‘sorts of ’ collocates with ‘things’. There are no clear rules for making collocations but, by listening to English a lot, you will begin to hear which words are usually found together.
Very often, you will hear whole phrases which are repeated often within a single situation.You can see examples in Bjork’s interview – ‘take it as it comes’ and ‘live life to the full’ are examples of phrases that have a fixed meaning. We understand the meaning of the phrase from the context in which we heard it, not by analysing each word. These fixed phrases or chunks are useful because, when we use them, we do not need to build each sentence word by word. By learning and using useful chunks of language you can begin to sound more fluent.
Here are some ideas to help you with chunks of language.
Listen out for fixed phrases Are there any phrases which are repeated a lot in your favourite programmes? How do the presenters introduce new stories, or end the programme? When they talk to guests, how do they introduce them or say goodbye? By focusing on phrases rather than individual words, you can begin to build your store of language chunks.This can help you become more fluent because you will not need to think about each individual word in the sentence.
Record collocations When you are putting new vocabulary in your notebook, remember to think about any important collocating words. For example, if you have learned the verb ‘to depend’, don’t forget that it is almost always followed by the preposition ‘on’. So, in your notebook, write ‘to depend on’.You will find that many nouns have strong collocating adjectives (e.g. heavy smoker) or verbs (do your homework) and verbs can have collocating prepositions, like ‘depend on’! If you are buying a new dictionary, check to see that it contains information on collocations.
Task Collocation game
How many things can you do with the radio? Set yourself a time limit of two minutes to think of as many verbs as you can which we often hear before the words ‘the radio’.
You can find a list in the Answer key on page 9 – but you may have some more!
You can try this game with a friend. One of you must choose a noun, and the other must think of as many adjectives or verbs which are often used with that noun.
I’ve always thought of Debut and Post as twins.They’re sort of before and after I learned to do things well. And I think that after this I’ll move on to different sorts of things. But the concept with Debut and Post was that they were the week in the life of a normal person and all the ups and downs you have – all the things you can’t plan. So that’s what Debut and Post represent – that you can’t plan your life and you’re not supposed to. Just live life to the full and take it as it comes.
Question a) What are the ideas which link Bjork’s albums Debut and Post?
Question b) Look at the groups of words which are underlined. Can you paraphrase them?
Answer
- Bjork’s albums Debut and Post were both about a week in the life of a normal person. One important thing about this is that life cannot be planned.
- ‘The ups and downs’ are all of the positive and negative things which appen to you. When you ‘live life to the full’ you do as much as you can and you enjoy everything you do. If you ‘take life as it comes’, you don’t make plans. You accept what happens each day, even if it is not enjoyable.
- switch on / turn on / break / switch off / turn off / fix / turn up / turn down …the radio
As you can see from Bjork’s interview, she is very comfortable speaking in English, although this is not her first language. Most importantly, she uses the types of phrases or groups of words which make her sound natural. When learning English, it’s very important to notice how words are often heard together. For example, Bjork says she’ll do ‘different sorts of things’. In this context, ‘sorts’ means the same as ‘types’ – but we would not usually say ‘different types of things’.This linking together of words is called collocation. So, we can say that ‘sorts of ’ collocates with ‘things’. There are no clear rules for making collocations but, by listening to English a lot, you will begin to hear which words are usually found together.
Very often, you will hear whole phrases which are repeated often within a single situation.You can see examples in Bjork’s interview – ‘take it as it comes’ and ‘live life to the full’ are examples of phrases that have a fixed meaning. We understand the meaning of the phrase from the context in which we heard it, not by analysing each word. These fixed phrases or chunks are useful because, when we use them, we do not need to build each sentence word by word. By learning and using useful chunks of language you can begin to sound more fluent.
Here are some ideas to help you with chunks of language.
Listen out for fixed phrases Are there any phrases which are repeated a lot in your favourite programmes? How do the presenters introduce new stories, or end the programme? When they talk to guests, how do they introduce them or say goodbye? By focusing on phrases rather than individual words, you can begin to build your store of language chunks.This can help you become more fluent because you will not need to think about each individual word in the sentence.
Record collocations When you are putting new vocabulary in your notebook, remember to think about any important collocating words. For example, if you have learned the verb ‘to depend’, don’t forget that it is almost always followed by the preposition ‘on’. So, in your notebook, write ‘to depend on’.You will find that many nouns have strong collocating adjectives (e.g. heavy smoker) or verbs (do your homework) and verbs can have collocating prepositions, like ‘depend on’! If you are buying a new dictionary, check to see that it contains information on collocations.
Task Collocation game
How many things can you do with the radio? Set yourself a time limit of two minutes to think of as many verbs as you can which we often hear before the words ‘the radio’.
You can find a list in the Answer key on page 9 – but you may have some more!
You can try this game with a friend. One of you must choose a noun, and the other must think of as many adjectives or verbs which are often used with that noun.
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