Sentence:  By the 1980s, English language teachers generally had begun to realize that there had been a neglect of <WSD>lexis</WSD> in teaching methods and coursebooks. ... The basic truth that without vocabulary or <WSD>lexis</WSD> we can't express anything had to be restated and a new approach to teaching <WSD>lexis</WSD> was needed. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Words, collocations, and common phrases in a language; vocabulary and word combinations.