Who argues that language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar?

• A. Michael Lewis
• B. Jane Willis
• C. Dave Willis
• D. Krashen

Answer: (A)

Language is best understood as consisting of grammaticalized lexis, where grammar is carried by fixed sequences and chunks of words rather than existing as separate, rules-based structures. Michael Lewis’s Lexical Approach argues that most language comes in chunks—collocations, fixed expressions, and formulaic phrases—and the grammar is embedded within these lexis units. Because learners encounter and memorize these ready-made patterns, they acquire both meaning and grammatical form through use of chunks, and grammatical competence emerges from patterns within those lexical sequences rather than from abstract rule learning alone. While Jane Willis and Dave Willis contributed to promoting chunk-based teaching and exposure to authentic language, the idea that language organization centers on grammaticalized lexis is most closely associated with Michael Lewis. Krashen, by contrast, emphasizes the role of comprehensible input in acquisition rather than this particular view of how grammar and lexis relate.