Word-formation for upper-intermediate level students

Abstract

This article explores how to assist upper-intermediate students with word-formation. Word-formation processes are highly significant given that they allow students to expand their range of vocabulary with relative ease. In my experience, one of students’ biggest challenges is that of enhancing their lexical competence and this is partly due to the fact that they find it somewhat hard to “acquire a critical mass of words for use in both understanding and producing language”. Lessons that focus on word-formation are “likely to pay dividends for the learner both receptively and productively”. The three main word-formation processes in English are compounding, affixation, and conversion, each one of which I shall consider in turn.