Abstract:

Apart from the different topics covered by a lexicology course, the lecture in which the origins of words in the English language are presented belongs to the most favourite ones. Students in their bachelor-degree programme can grasp different sources of the English lexicon; however, they cannot fully penetrate the diversity of English vocabulary and uncover a network of complex family relationships that link many English words together.

With the intent to enable students to discover how particular influences on English have given rise to some unlikely connections between words, one 90-minute seminar was devoted to precise analyses of several pages taken from contemporary literary prose.

Sixty students were divided into two main groups: one that is attended by students of Major English in combination with another academic discipline and one in which only Major English students are grouped. Their seminars were held on two days (Tuesday and Thursday), and due to different schedules, they did not communicate intensively, meeting randomly. The same activity was introduced and explained in both groups, and the participants were provided with particular pages taken from contemporary literary work. Thirty students in each group were expected to work in five sub-groups, which enabled them to concentrate only on the selected passages. Six students were working on one page to have a chance to distribute labour. Their preference was to work in pairs.

Using different digital tools, they worked on each word in their passage, checking its origins, recognising the main features of Germanic and Romance languages and trying to develop their classifications. Later, they had to present statistical analyses based on the data achieved in their sub-group.

The idea behind this study was to engage students in discovery learning. While using different sources, they had to present the words which are etymologically linked with other words in classroom discussions. The article will explain the main findings, focusing on some specificities students could discover. Statistical analyses of data will support the conclusions.

Keywords:

Discovery learning, the English lexicon, etymology, contemporary literary prose.