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.