谈中学英语词汇教学技巧.docx

谈中学英语词汇教学技巧.docx

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谈中学英语词汇教学技巧

OnSkillsofEnglishVocabularyTeachinginMiddleSchool

谈中学英语词汇教学技巧

Abstract

Wordsarethebasicelementoflanguage.WiththenewEnglishcurriculumstandards,vocabularyhasbecomeoneoftheimportantstandardsformeasuringEnglishlevels.MasteringacertainamountofvocabularyisthekeytolearnEnglishwell.However,theobstructionsoflearningvocabularystillexist.Inmanyteachersandstudents’mind,Englishvocabularyhaslargequantity,changeableandcomplicatedstylesandfewprinciplestofollow.Accordingtostudents’psychologicalfeatures,theauthordiscussesfreshandflexiblewaysofEnglishvocabularyteaching.Itmakesvocabularyteachingvividandeasytounderstandandmemorize.Thispaperdiscussessomemethodsonhowtheteacherslearntoteachwordsandhowthestudentslearntograspwords,basedontheimportanceandthecurrentsituationofvocabularyteachinginmiddleschool.

Keyword:

vocabularyteaching;middleschool;skill

OnSkillsofEnglishVocabularyTeachinginMiddleSchool

I.Introduction

Englishisakindoflanguagewhichhasalonghistory,richvocabulary,complexmeaningsandconcisegrammar.Peopleallovertheworldarewillingtolearnandusethislanguage.Itislikeavastocean.Inordertolearnitwell,learnersshouldnotonlyswimintheEnglishvocabularyocean,butalsomastertheskillsoflearningvocabulary.Vocabularyplaysacoreroleinlanguageteachingandlearning.Itlaysafoundationforlistening,speaking,readingandwriting.

Whenstudentsarelearningaforeignlanguage,anddonotknowitsinnerrules,itwillaffectstudents’understandingandpracticing.Vocabularyisthebasisofimprovinglearners’languageability.PerhapsthemostcommonwayforChineselearnersofEnglishtolearnvocabularyisthroughmemorizationofalistofwordsandtheirChineseequivalentswithalotoforalrepetitionsofeachword.ManylearnersmayhavefoundthiskindofvocabularylearningveryineffectiveastheyoftenfindthattheystillcannotunderstandthemeaningofthetexttheyhadreadalthoughtheyknowtheChinesemeaningofeachword.Withoutvocabulary,languagewillloseits

meaning.TomanyEnglishlearners,EnglishvocabularylearningisoneofthemostdifficultproblemsinEnglishstudy.Unlikethecontroversialroleofgrammarinforeignlanguagelearning,theroleofvocabularyseemstohavereceivedmoreconsistentunderstanding.However,uncertaintystillremainsregardingwhatconstitutesavocabularyitem,whichvocabularyitemsshouldbetaughtandlearned,andhowvocabularycanbetaughtandlearnedmosteffectivelyandefficiently.

Wilkins（1792）said,“Withoutgrammar,verylittlecanbeconveyed;withoutvocabulary,nothingcanbeconveyed”.McCarthy（1990）said,“Nomatterhowwellthestudentlearnsgrammar,nomatterhowsuccessfullyhemastersthesoundsofL2，withoutwordstoexpressawiderangeofmeanings,communicationinthatlanguagecannothappeninanymeaningfulway”.XiaoXi（2003）said,“EnglishvocabularyteachingisinaccordancewithEnglishwords,phrases,idioms,collocationsandusagesandbasicwordformation.Wordsarethebasicmaterialoflanguageandoneofthethreekeyelementsoflanguage.Certainamountofwordsisthebasisoflistening,speaking,reading,andwriting.Teachingvocabularylivelyandefficiently,andlettingstudentsformtherighthabitofwordlearningcanmakestudentsdeveloptheirEnglishlevelassoonaspossible.Theteachingtaskisquitehardandpermeatesfrombeginningtoend,soteachingskillsappearsveryimportant.

InChina,Englisheducationisanindispensablepartofthecurriculumdesignatedbytheeducationalauthorities.AlthoughtheyhavestudiedEnglishformanyyearsandpassedalotofexaminations,studentsarestillconsideredweakinusingEnglishcorrectly.Reasonsvaryfromtheunreasonableeducationsystem,toschools’management,andeventofamilies’effects.AverageEnglishteacherscandoverylittletochangethosemacrosituations,buttheycanpolishuptheirmicroteachingskills,forinstance,theskillsofvocabularyteaching.BasedonpreviousresearchesaboutEnglishvocabulary,thispaperintendstohelpEnglishteachersimprovetheirskillsofvocabularyteachingsothatstudentscanmastermorewordsinlimitedtime.

II.TheproblemsofEnglishvocabularylearningandteachinginmiddleschool

Thesuccessfulacquisitionofalanguageinvolvesatleasttwomainaspects:

thestudents’perspectiveandtheteachers’perspective,whichindicatesthatlearningandteachingareequallyimportantandinterrelated.Therefore,theproblemofvocabularyacquisitionissupposedtobeexploredfromthesetwoaspects.

2.1TheproblemsofEnglishvocabularylearning

Itisverycommontoseethissituation:

inanEnglishclass,theatmosphereisveryhot.Somestudentscantalkaboutliterature.However,iftheyareaskedtowritesomeEnglishsentencesorshortessays,theirpassagesarefullofmistakes,especiallymisusedwords.Wheredoestheproblemlie?

2.1.1Students’psychologicalfactors

Somestudentsthinkthatlearningvocabularymeansrecitingit.Infact,masteringawordcontainsmanythings,notonlyreadingandwritingitright,butalsoknowingitsusageandusingitproficiently.Becauseofnotknowingtherealimportanceofvocabularylearning,studentsunderestimateit.Theydonotworkhardonlearningandaccumulatingvocabulary.Moreover,theydonotknowhowtostudyvocabularyefficiently.AttheverybeginningoflearningEnglish,studentsarecuriousandinterestedinEnglish.AstheaccumulationofEnglishknowledge,somestudentsareunabletodoasmuchastheywouldliketo.Afteracertaintime,acertainnumberofstudentsfinditdryanddullandaretiredofstudying.Theybeataretreatinthefaceofdifficulties.Finally,theygiveitup.

2.1.2Students’carelessnessintheirstudy

Somestudentsdonothavearigorouslearningapproach.Theyarealwayscarelesswhentheyreadandwritewords.Theydonotpayenoughattentiontothosewordswhichhavefamiliarword-stylebutdifferentpronunciationandmeaning,suchas“polite”and“police”.Theyalsodonotdistinguishthosewordswhichhavethesamepronunciationbutdifferentword-style,suchas“so”,“sew”and“sow”.Asaresult,thosestudentscannotrememberwordsclearlyandtendtomixthemup.

2.1.3Students’failureinreviewingwords

Duetolimitedclasstime,studentswillnotbeabletolearnallthevocabularysimplyfromclassteaching.Theyusuallyfindthatitisveryeasyforthemtomemorizemanynewwordsinashorttime,buttheywillforgettheminashortertime.Thatisbecausetheydonotknowhowtoreviewwordseffectively.Theydonotfollowtheprincipleofthememorytoreviewwords.Ebbinghaus,aworld-famouspsychologist,hadagreatresearch,theEbbinghausForgettingCurve.Itstatesclearlythattheprocessofforgettingisnotbalanced.Atfirst,peopleforgetthingsfast,butsometimelater,thespeedofforgettingslows.Afteracertaintime,peoplewillnotforgetanything.Soinordertomemorizemorewords,studentsshouldreviewthemintimetoovercomeforgetting.Studentsmuststrikewhileironishot.

2.2TheproblemsofEnglishvocabularyteaching

Inlanguageteaching,theunderstandingofhowtoteachvocabularyhasbeenafocusofcontroversyforquitealongtimeandtodayisstillgoingon.NewEnglishCurriculumStandardsforNine-YearCompulsoryEducationandSeniorHighSchoolhavebeenissuedandcarriedout,butinmanymiddleschools,traditionalteachingmethodsarestillthemainstream.Howtodevelopvocabularyefficientlyandeffectivelyhasbecomeaveryimportanttaskforteachers.TodaytherestillexistsomewrongnotionsinEnglishvocabularyteaching.VocabularyteachingisanindispensablepartofEnglishcurriculum.Butsometraditionalvocabulary-teachingmethodsseemtoisolatethewordsfromthecontextorbreakawayfromthescientificrules,whichcannothelpstudentsdevelopalanguagecompetenceinthelongrunbutcausethemtoloseinterestinEnglish.MiddleschoolEnglishteachersshouldtakegreatresponsibilityforthis,sincetheyarethepremieroneswhointroducestudentstothefieldofEnglish.

2.2.1Notdistinguishingtheprimaryandsecondarywords

Whenstudentslearnanewtext,theywillmeetatleasttennewwords.Oneofteachers’tasksistobeabridgetoconnectstudentsandknowledge.Iftheydonotdoso,students’loadwillincrease.Infact,manyteachersonlyaskstudentstomemorizevocabularymechanicallyinmorningreadingtime,andneversupervisetheirstudentsinmemorizingandreviewingwords.

Anotherkindofteacherspayattentiontoallthenewwords.Theydonotknowwhichoneistheprimaryandwhichoneisthesecondary.Students’loadwillincrease,too.

2.2.2Reviewingwordsinsimplisticandmechanicalways

Themethodofreviewingwordsfornearlyallthestudentsisreciting.Themethodoftestingwordsfornearlyalltheteachersisdictation.Somestudentscanmemorizethevocabularylistthoroughly,buttheycannotgethighmarksinexaminations.TheyusuallyuseChinglishinoralorwrittenexpressions.Teachersshouldtellstudentsthatthevocabularylistisatooltohelpthemunderstandtextswell,nottheonlymeanstoaccumulatenewwords.Otherwise,theycannotmakethemselvesunderstoodinmanykindsofcommunication.Forexample,ifstudentsareaskedtotranslateaChinesesentence“天安门广场上是人山人海”intoEnglish,lotsofstudentswilltranslateitlikethis:

Tian’anmenSquareispeoplemountainpeoplesea.Infact,therightansweristhatTherearehugecrowdsofpeopleonTian’anmenSquare.Anotherexample,someonewasbusycarryingbooksintothehousebecauseitwasraining.