ABSTRACT:

Grammarprovidestheoverallpatterns,andvocabularyisthematerialtoputinthepatterns。Withoutgrammarwecanconveyalittle,butwithoutvocabular论文网ywecanconveynothing。VocabularyteachingisanindispensablepartofEnglishcurriculum。Butsometraditionalvocabulary-teachingmethodsseemtoisolatethewordsfromthecontextorbreakawayfromthescientificrules,thattheycan’thelpstudentstodevelopalanguagecompetenceinthelongrunbutcausethemtoloseinterestinEnglish。MiddleschoolEnglishteachersshouldtakegreatresponsibilityforthis,sincetheyarethepremieroneswhointroducestudentstothefieldofEnglish。Inthispaper,Iwouldprovideelevenscientificvocabulary-teachingtechniques。IthinktheycouldbevaluableformiddleschoolEnglishteachersduringtheirteachingprocess。

[KEYWORDS

Techniquevocabularycontextcompetence

摘要:

语法是语言的基本模型,词汇是语言的基本材料;如果没有语法,我们几乎不能明确地表达思想;而如果没有词汇我们则完全无法表达任何东西。词汇教学是英语教学中不可或缺的一部分。一些中学英语教师在讲授词汇时,把词汇从上下文中脱离出来,忽略了科学的学习规律;从长远来看,这种传统的词汇教学方法不仅不利于学生形成和提高英语语言能力,反而会导致他们对英语失去兴趣。作为中学生学习英语的启蒙老师,中学英语教师应对此承担一定的责任。在该论文中,我提供了11种较为科学的词汇教学方法,我希望在这11种方法对中学英语教师会有一定的参考价值。

[关键字教学方法词汇语境语言能力

INTRODUCTION

InChina,Englishteachershavesometimestendedtooverlooktheimportanceofthelexicalsystem。Thisisespeciallyobviousinthemiddleschool。ThisphenomenonmighthaveresultedfromthefactthatlinguistshaveworkedoutaperfectequivalentChinesevocabularysystemtoEnglishvocabularysystem,sothatteachesandstudentscanmoreeasilydealwiththevocabularythanwiththegrammarandsoundofEnglishwhicharequitedifferentfromtheChinesegrammarandsoundsystem。

Lexicalitemsmayalsohaveappearedtobeofsecondaryimportancebecausetheyhavesometimesbeenseenasthatwhichisusedtofleshout“thestructureortoexemplifypartsofthesoundsystem。However,withoutlexiconthemajormeaning-caringelementinlanguageismissing。Therefore,theacquisitionofvocabularyisanintegralpartofEnglishteaching。

Ontheotherhand,thereareteacherswhohavetendedtooveremphasizethelearningofwordsinthelengthyvocabularylists。TheoldEnglishtextbook(JUNIORENGLISHFORCHINA,People’sPublisherofChina,1990)bearssilentwitnesstosuchanapproach。

Thesolutionhereistoseekscientifictechniquesofvocabularyteaching。Studentsshouldbeexposedtothevocabularyneededtoexpresstheideastheywanttocommunicate。Thevocabularyitemsshouldnotbestrictlylimited,norshouldvocabularyacquisitionbestressedtotheexclusionofotherpartsofthelanguagesystem。

Inthefollowingpart,Iwilldiscussfourtopics:I。Theimportanceofvocabularyteachinginmiddleschools。II。Thedrawbacksofseveraltraditionalvocabularyteachingmethods。III。ThreedistinguishingfeaturesofEnglishwordsand11scientifictechniquesformiddleschoolteacherstodelivervocabularyteaching。IV。Byadoptingscientificvocabularyteachingtechniques,teacherscanhelpstudentsimprovetheirlanguageacquisitionabilityandlanguagecompetence。

I。Theimportanceofvocabularyteachinginmiddleschool:

Wordisoneofthethreebasiclanguageunits(sound,word,grammar)。Itisessentialtocommunication。OneofthefamouslinguistsWilkinsoncesaidthat,Withoutgrammarverylittlecanbeconveyed,withoutvocabularynothingcanbeconveyed。“(Wilkins,ENGLISHSTUDY,ForeignLanguageStudyInstitute,1987)Littlechildrenlearntospeakinisolatedwordsandtheninchainsofnounsandverbs。AchildwhosaysMumbye-byebike“iseasilyunderstoodbyEnglish-speakingadult。Studentswhoareimmersedintoanewlinguisticsettlingtendtopickupvocabularyfirst,andthengraduallydevelopamoreaccurate,structuralframeworkinwhichtousethesewords。Andtheymustcontinuallybelearningwordsastheylearnstructuresandastheypracticethesoundsystem。Therefore,vocabularyteachingisanindispensablepartofEnglishlessonsinmiddleschool,andanimportanttaskfortheteachers。WhetheramiddleschoolEnglishteachercanfollowscientificmethodstoteachvocabularyornotdirectlybringgoodorbadinfluencetowardthestudents。Ifhismethodsaresuitableforthestudentsandbeneficialfortheminthelongrun,hecouldarousetheirinterestonEnglishandhelpthemtodevelopasolidfoundationoflanguageacquisitionability;whereasifhefailstodoso,itmightresultinthestudents’diffidencetowardthemselvesandmightcausethemtodisgustEnglish。

II。Thedrawbacksofseveraltraditionalvocabularyteachingmethods:

i。Teachwordsinisolation:

MiddleschoolEnglishteachersinchinausuallyaskstudentstolearnvocabularylistsinwhichwordsareisolatedfromthecontext。Inonecase,theyletthestudentspickoutallthenewwordsinthetext,listthemonapaper,andconsultthedictionaryfortheChineseorEnglishmeanings;forexample,display“meanshow“,arrive“meansreach“。Inanothercase,theytrytogetthestudentstoassociateeachwordwithanimageoranobject;forexample,theyholdupapictureofacarandsayThisisacar。“Boththeseteachingtechniquesimplythatlearningvocabularymeanslearningindividualwordoneatatime。Thesetwomethodsmaysavetimeandbefast-effective。However,therelationshipsbetweenwordsareasimportantasthemeaningofthewordinisolation:howcar“contrastswithbus“andtruck“,andhowitisrelatedtodriver“andengine“areasimportantastheworditself。

NeglectingthestudyoftherelationshipsinEnglishvocabularysystemmightresultinstudents’slownessincomprehensionandinappropriatenessinexploitingtheEnglishwords。Beingtaughtinthesewayswithoutachange,studentsmighthavedifficultyinworkingoutthemeaningsofsomewords,suchastime“inthefollowingthreesentences:

①Sheisnearhertime。(meansShewoulddiesoon。“)

②Theumpirecalledtime。(meansTheumpirecalledforastop。“)

③Heisinthetimeofhislife。(meansThedaysheisexperiencingareveryenjoyable。“)

AndmanyChinesemiddleschoolstudentsoftenmakesuchsentencesas:

①ThepoliciesadoptedbytheChineseCommunistPartyisbeneficial。

②Myspoken-Englishisverybad。

Studentswhomakesuchsentencesonlyknowthemeaningofeachindividualword,buttheyarepoorintheproperuseofbeneficial“(whichshouldbebeneficialfor“people)andbad“(whichshouldbechangedintopoor“)。

ii。TeachEnglishwordsinone-to-onecorrespondencetoChinesewords:

ManyEnglishteacherstendtoteachEnglishwordsinone-to-onecorrespondencetoChinesewords;forexample,Englishglass“is玻璃“inChinese,Englishcup“is茶杯“inChinese,andsoon。Thistraditionaltranslationteachingmethodwhichhasbeenadoptedinchinaforalongtimeisconsideredtobehelpful。Butinthelongruntheoveruseofthismethodisharmfultothedevelopmentofstudents’languagecompetence。Especiallyintheelementarystage,thismethodshouldbeavoidedaspossibleasitcanbe。

WhenstudentssaythattheyknowthemeaningofanEnglishword,theyusuallymeanthattheyhavefoundanequivalentwordinChineselanguage,butthisequivalentwordmaybemisleading。Let’stakethewordwith“forexample。InthesentenceofIhavemilkforbreakfast“,thewordmilk“inChineseculturereferstohotmilk,becauseChinesepeopleareusedtodrinkmilkhot;whilethewordmilk“intheAmericanculturereferstocoldmilk,becauseAmericansneverdrinkboiledmilkasweChinesedo。Thisexampleshowsusthatthesamewordmilk“hasdifferentsocialmeaningsindifferentcultures。Infact,manylinguistsbelievethatnowordcanbeexactlytranslatedintoanotherlanguage。Learningthevocabularyofasecondlanguageisnotjusttomemorizetheequivalentwordsoflanguageone,buttolearnthemeaningrelationshipbetweenmilk“andallotherwordsinEnglishwithinthecontextofculturallife。

iii。Treatallwordsequally:

SomeEnglishteacherstreatallvocabularyequally。Thatis,theygenerallyimplythatstudentsshouldbeabletoproduceallvocabularypresented。Butasissuggestedbythelinguiststhatwordscanbeclassifiedintoreceptivevocabularyandproductivevocabularyaccordingtotheneeds,languagelevelsandprofessionsofthelearners。Theypointoutthatallspeakersareabletorecognizemorewordsthantheyusuallyuseonaproductivelevel。Productivevocabularyisthatutilizedineverydayspeech。Receptivevocabulary,ontheotherhand,althoughneededforcomprehension,isnotnecessarilyessentialforproductioninspeakingandwriting。Teacherswhodonoticethisfactaskstudentstoconcentrateequallyontheacquisitionofbothreceptivevocabularyandproductivevocabulary。Thismethodofvocabularyteachingaddsmuchburdentostudents,andwouldcausethemtobecometiredofvocabularylearning。

iv。Neglectingthecooperationofsenseorgans:

Accordingtotheexperimentsoflinguists,anaverageEnglishlearnerwillbetterrememberanewwordandmakeitbecomeanactiveoneifheobserves,speaksout,hears,andwritesaswellasrecitesit。Butmanyteachersseemtobeunawareofthisrulethattherearenotafewstudentsremembervocabularybyincorrectways。Ononehand,theytreatthenewwordsasiftheyaretelephonenumbers。Theyreadthenewwordsletterbyletterwithoutobservingthepronunciationrules。Forexample,whentheyreadthewordclassroom“,theydoitinthisway:c-l-a-s-s-r-o-o-m,classroom“insteadofcl[kl]-a[a:]-ss[s]-r[r]-oo[u:]-m[m],classroom“。Thisstupidmethodaddsthedifficultyinmemorizingnewwords。Ontheotherhand,sincetheteachersdonotaskstudentstonoticethekeypartsofthenewwords,theymeetmuchdifficultywhenrememberingthem;forexample,whenateacherteachthewordmouth“andmonth“,ifheaskthestudentstopayattentiontothekeypartsofthesetwowords,andtounderlineou“inmouthwith[au]aboveitandunderlineon“inmonthwith/^n/aboveit,studentswouldeasilyrememberthesetwowordswithoutamistakewiththeirattentionstokeyparts。ButmanymiddleschoolEnglishteachers,especiallythoseinthenon-standardoneslackinthestudyofpedagogy。Theydonotseetheadvantageofconcentratingonkeyparts,thattheyarbitrarilyrequirestudentstowritedown[]aswellasmachinecompletelyandperfectlywiththefalsebeliefthatthemoreyoucanwritedown,thebetteryourememberit。Finally,moststudentsdonotcooperatethefunctionsofeyes,ears,mouthandhandswhenmemorizingnewwords。Generally,anewwordwouldwellturnintoanactiveoneinstudents’mindsafteratleastthreestages:Thefirststageisknownasforminganacousticlink。Thatmeansstudentsareabletolinkthepronunciationtothewordwhentheyhearitinaconversation。Thesecondstageisprobablyformingausuallink。Thatistosay,whenstudentscomeacrossthiswordinreadingmaterials,theycanunderstandit。Thethirdstageismoredifficulttoachievebutveryimportant。Itistoformmentalimageoftheword。Thatmeanstheycanimitate,chooseandgivethereigntoitfreelyandaccuratelyinspeakingandwritingasifitistheirnativeword。Moststudentscanonlyachievethefirstandsecondstagesbutneverreachthethirdstagepartlyduetotheirpoorcooperationofthesenseorgans。

v。Failtofollowthememoryrule:

Therearetwotypesofmemoryprocesses---short-termmemoryandlong-termmemory。Short-termmemorymeansthatthestorationofinputonlystayinyourmemorytemporarily;whilethelong-termmemorymeansthestorationofinputcanstayinyourmemoryformorethan10days,everforthewholelife。Infact,ourmemoryprocessisarecyclingprocess。Accordingtothesurveyoflinguists,themoretimesthewordisused,thebetteryourememberit。Butmanyteacherspartiallyemphasizethefunctionofshort-termmemory。Theyseemtocaremoreabouttheamountofvocabularyinputthanthoseactuallystayinstudents’memory。

Beingforcedtorememberalargeamountofvocabularyinthisway,studentsaretreatedasiftheywereafunned。Inappearancetheytakeinthousandsofnewwords,butineffectonlyafewwhicharefrequentlyusedreallystayintheirstoreandcanbeexploited。Itisnotamazingthataseniormiddleschoolstudentwhoisrequiredtomaster3000wordshasmisusedormademistakesin60wordswhenaskedtowritedownapassageof100wordsbecauseofhispoorvocabularystoration。Manyofteachersputalltheblametothestudents’laziness。Theyexplainforthemselvesthatthosestudentsaretoolazytoenlargetheirsizeofvocabulary。

Theremightbesometeachersseeingthelong-termmemoryrule。However,theyneversucceedinapplyingthememoryruleinclassroom。Theyclaimthatthetimeofeachperiodofclassislimitedthattheycan’tspendsomuchtimeontherepetitionofvocabularyteaching。AsfarasI’mconcerned,Idon’tthinktheirexcusesmakeanysense。Whatmattersistheirignoranceofscientificteachingtechniquesandirresponsibilityforthedevelopmentofstudents。

vi。Harmfulmethodofpunishment:

Ithinktheworstmethodofvocabularyteachingistheadoptionofharmfulmethodofpunishment---copyingnewwordsfor100even1000times。Therearestillsometeachersinfavorofthecopymethod。Theseteachersforcetheirpoorstudentstocopymanytimesofnewwordswhichtheymakemistakesin。ThisawkwardpunishmentoftencausestudentstofearandworryaboutEnglishlessons。ItistruethatmostofthemiddleschoolstudentsareinterestedinEnglishatfirst,becauseitisanewsubjectthatisfullofnoveltyandinterest。AndtheyliketheirEnglishteacher,too。Butwiththemisuseofteachingmethodsbyteachers,theymightbegintofeeldiscouragedinEnglishlearningandevendisgusttheirEnglishteacher。

ThesixtraditionalmethodsofvocabularyteachingwhichIhavementionedarefrequentlyusedbymanymiddleschoolEnglishteachers,especiallythoseworkingincommonmiddleschoolsinruralareaswhereteacher-dominantclassesaretypical。Beingtaughtintheseways,althoughstudentstakepainfuleffortsinvocabularylearning,theyachievelittle。Asaresult,theycan’tfindmuchpleasureinEnglishandbecomemoreandmorelazyinstudy。NotonlyaretheirEnglishabilitynotimproved,buttheyarediscouragedinEnglishlearning。

Itisparticularlyimportantandnecessarytotrytomakevocabularyteachinginterestingandaffectiveforthestudents。Theirstudywillbecomealotmoreeffectiveifthestudentscometotheclassroomwillinglyinsteadofbeingforcedto。Thatistosay,howcanteacherssucceedinarousingthestudents’interestinEnglishandmakingthestudentsmoreactiveandaggressiveinthinkingbyvocabularyteaching?Todosoweshoulddiscardthedrawbacksoftraditionalvocabularyteachingmethods,reservetheiradvantagesandcombinethemwithscientificvocabularyteachingtheories。Buthow?

III。ThreedistinguishingfeaturesofEnglishvocabularyand11scientifictechniquestoteachthem:

3。1。ThetheredistinguishingfeaturesofEnglishvocabulary:

Beforestudyingthebettertechniquesinvocabularyteaching,wehadbetterknowaboutthecharacteristicsofEnglishwords。EnglishwordsarequitedifferentfromChinesecharacters,theformeroneisaspellingsystemwhilethelaterisastrokesystem。Englishwordshavethreedistinguishingfeatures:

i。Firstly,thepronunciationofeachwordiscorrespondedtoitsspelling,forexample,lookatthefollowingtwolistsofwords:

①old,cold,hold,whole,so[]

②smart,artist,mark,garden[a:]

Inlist①thelettero“inthefivewordsareallpronouncedas[];andinlist②thelettercombinationar“inthefourwordsarepronouncedas[a:]。IfstudentshavenoticedthisrelationshipbetweenEnglishpronunciationandspelling,theywouldbeeasierinpronouncingandmemorizingnewwords。

Butwithalonghistoryofdevelopmentandvariation,andwiththeinfluencebyotherlanguages,thespellingofEnglishwordsdon’talwaysobservethisrule;forexample,theletteru“ispronounceddifferentlyinthefollowingwords:

Uncle[],until[],full[],music[],truth[]

Inanothercase,withtheinfluenceofAmericanaccent,thewordclerk[]“isalsopronouncedas[]。

ii。AnotherfeatureofEnglishwordsisthattheyfrequentlyhavemorethanonemeaning。Thewordbook“,forexample,obviouslyreferstosomethingyouusetoreadfrom(awrittenworkintheformof)asetofprintedpagesfastenedtogetherinsideacover,asathingtoberead。Accordingtoonelearner’sdictionary。Butthesamedictionarythengoesontolisteightmoremeaningsofbook“asanoun,twomeaningsofbook“asaverbandthreemeaningswherebook“+prepositionmakesphrasalverbs。Sowewillhavetosaythatthewordbook“sometimesmeansthekindofthingyoureadfrom,butitcanalsomeananumberofotherthings。

Whenwecomeacrossaword,then,andtrytodecipheritsmeaningwewillhavetolookatthecontextinwhichitisused。Ifweseeawomaninatheatrearguingattheticketofficesaying,ButIbookedmyricketsthreeweeksago。“wewillobviouslyunderstandameaningoftheverbbook“whichisdifferentfromapoliceman(accompaniedbyanunhappy-lookingmanatapolicestation)sayingtohiscolleaguewebookedhimforspeeding。“Inotherwords,studentsneedtounderstandtheimportanceofmeaningincontext。

iii。ThethirdcharacteristicisthatEnglishwordscanchangetheirshapeandtheirgrammaticalvalues,too。Studentsneedtoknowfactsaboutwordformationandhowtotwistwordstofitdifferentgrammaticalcontexts。Thustheverbrun“hastheparticiplesrunning“andran“,thepresentparticiplerunning“canbeusedasanadjectiveandrun“canalsobeanone。Thereisaclearrelationshipbetweenthewordsdeath“,dead“,dying“anddie“。

Studentsalsoneedtoknowhowsuffixesandprefixeswork。Howcanwemakethewordspotentandexpensiveoppositeinmeaning?Whydoweprefaceonewithin-andtheotherwithim-?

KnowingthethreedistinguishingcharacteristicsofEnglishvocabularywillhelpteacherstodelivervocabularyteaching。

3。2。ElevenscientifictechniquestoteachEnglishvocabulary:

AftercarefulobservationofthemiddleschoolEnglishclassroomandthestudyofpedagogyintheaspectofEnglishteaching,aswellaswithmypersonalexperienceofEnglishlearning,Iwouldliketosuggest11techniquesofvocabulary-teachingwhichIconsiderwouldbevaluableforbothteachersandstudentsinmiddleschools:

i。Usingvisuals:

1)。Labels:Forabeginningclasstheteachercanpreparelabelsforobjectsintheclassroom;forexample,intheclassroomthedoormighthavealabelreadingCLASSTWO“;abovethechalkboardmightbeasignsayingSTUDYHARD“。

2)。Magazinepictures:Theteachercutsoutmagazinepicturesthatillustratewordsinadialogueorbasicsentences。Theseareplacedonthechalkboardoronamagneticboardwithmagnets。Theteacherpointstotheobjectsandgivestheirforeignlanguageequivalents:Thisisarestaurant。

3)。Props:Ifthelessonisaboutfoods,theteachercouldbringtoclassabasketofplasticfruit。

Teacher:whatisthis?

Student:It’satomato;it’sapear;it’sanorange。

Inteachingaboutthehouse,adollhousewithfurniturecanbeusedtoteachthenamesofrooms,floors,partsofthehouse,andarticlesoffurniture。

4)。Classroomobjects:Thecalendarmaybeusedtoteachtoday“,yesterday“,tomorrow“,aswellaslastweek“,nextweek“,nextmonth“,intwoweeks“,andsoon。

5)。Slides:Slidesfurnishanexcellentmediumforconveyingtheconnotativeculturalmeaningofordinarywordsinaforeignlanguage。

Forexample,thewordhouse“,toAmericanstudents,denotesanAmericantypeofhouse;whiletoChinesestudents,itdenotesaChinese-stylehouse。Withthefacilityofslides,teachercanshowstudentswhatAmerican-stylehouseslooklike。

Slidesofdailycontemporaryscenesofforeigncountriescanfrequentlybeusedinvocabularyteaching。Itemsofclothingmightbetaughtfirst,withthehelpofdrawingsorpictures。Aslideofseveralpeoplegoingshoppingprovidesanopportunityforthestudentstotalkaboutwhatthepeoplearewearing。Inthisway,foreignwordsslowlyabsorbtheconnotationstheyhaveintheirownculture。

ii。Usinggestures

Gesturesmaybeusedtoconveythemeaningsofsomewords。Certaindescriptiveadjectives,suchastall“,thin“,fat“,happy“,anddumb“,canlendthemselvestogestures。

Prepositionsofplacecanalsobeeffectivelytaughtbymovements;forexample:

Teacher:Thebookisonthetable。Thepencilisonthebook。Thebookisunderthepencil。Nowthepencilisbehindthebook。

Actionverbscanbeactedout:Theteacheriseating。Theteacherisdrinking。Theteacherisreading。

Teacher:Whatistheteacherdoing?

Students:Theteacheriseating。

iii。Drawings

Drawingsillustratingvocabularymaybehungaroundtheclassroom。Theseareespeciallyeffectiveiftheyillustratepointswherelearningproblemstendtooccur:

Heislyingonthebed。Heislayinghiscoatonthebed。

Anotheruseofdrawingsisknownaspictureassociationwhichmeansdrewpicturesforthetroublesomewordsandthestudentsthemselvesprovidingtheassociation:

iv。Teachingseriesandwordsequences:

Someofthewordstaughtinelementarylanguagecourseoccurnaturallyinsequences,suchasnumbers,namesofmonths,daysoftheweek。Studentsreadilymemorizetheseries,buttheythenhavedifficultyusingthewordsoutofsequence。Thefollowingtechniqueshelpstudentspracticeelementsinaseries:

a)Flashcards

Theitemsortheabbreviationsoftheitems(daysoftheweekandmonthsoftheyear)canbeputonflashcards;forexample,allthelettersofthealphabetareputoncards。Theteachershufflesthecardstopresentthelettersoutofsequencefordrill。

b)Clockface

Usingatoyclock,orafaceofaclockdrownontheboard,theteacherrandomlypointstothenumbers1through12whilethestudentssaythemaloud。Thenumbers13to24mayalsobeadded。

c)Chalkboard

Theteacherwritesthefirstletterortheabbreviationofeachdayoftheweekacrossthechalkboard。Afterteachingthenewwords,theteacherpointstothelettersontheboardinrandomorder,elicitingthedaysoftheweekfromthestudents。

v。Usingknownvocabulary:

Theteachercanuseknownvocabularytoteachthemeaningsofnewwords:

a)Synonymsandantonymsoutofcontext:

①Asynonymoffastisrapidly。Whatisthesynonymofrapidly?

②Theoppositeofbigislittle。Whatistheoppositeoflittle。

b)Synonymsandantonymsinsentencecontext:

Usethenewwordinsentencesthatcontainanantonymorcontraryexpression:

①Thismeatistough。Icanonlyeattendermeat。

②TomwaslazywhilehisbrotherJackwasindustrious。Jackworkedallthetime。

Usethenewwordinsentencesthatcontainasynonymorequivalentexpression:

①Johnwasexhausted。Hisbrother,too,wasextremelytired。

②Mary,whyareyoutalkingsofast?TheChinesedon’tunderstandyouwhenyouspeaksoquickly。

c)Categories:Namesofcategoriescanbetaughtverballyifthestudentsknowsomenamesofitemsthatbelongwithinaparticularcategory。

Teacher:Coffeeisabeverage。Coca-colaisabeverage。Teaisabeverage。Givemesomeotherexamplesofbeverages。

Student:Milkisabeverage。

Teacher:Tennisisasport。Baseballisasport。Whatisanothersport?

Student:Footballisasport。

d)Definitionsandparaphrases:Definitionsandparaphrasesmaybegiveninthetargetlanguage。Targetlanguagedictionariesareusefultotheteacher,especiallythosedictionariespreparedtohelpforeignerslearnthesecondlanguage。

①Asingerisapersonwhosings。

②Agirlwhoisbadnews“isnotverypretty。Sheisugly。

vi。Grouping:

Manytextbookspresentvocabularyitemsinrandomorder。Somebookshavealphabeticallistsofnewwords。Ineithercase,newwordsmaybefurthergroupedtopointoutsimilaritiesanddifferencesamongthem。Brightstudentsdothisautomatically,butoftentheslowerstudentsexperiencedifficultypreciselybecausetheydonotnoticetheobviousgroupings。

Theteachercanpreparehandoutsthatgroupwordstohelpstudentsrememberthemmoreeasily。

a)Nouns:Nounscanbegroupedinfamilies:

①Colour:white,black,yellow,brown,green,pink…

②Foods:bread,milk,applepie,grapes,cake…

b)Verbs:Verbscanbegroupedbyitsusageandcollocation:

1。enjoy,avoid,escape,finish,can’thelp…+doing

2。gov。

goabout:perform;goafter:trytogetgoagainstfor:oppose

goby:pass;gofor:attackgoalongwith:agreewith…

c)Adjectives:Adjectivescanbegroupedaccordingtothewaytheyareused

-ous:famous,dangerous,generous-able,-ible:eatable,accessible

-ful:useful,doubtful,resentful-ary,-ory:elementary,contradictory

-ic:patriotic,heroic,historic-ant,-ent:important,different

-ive:comparative,progressive,passive…

d)Paresofwords:Synonymsandantonymscanbegrouped。Rootwordsmaybepairedwithformsusingprefixesorsuffixes。

vii。Discoverytechniques:

Especiallyatintermediatelevelsandabove,discoverytechniques(wherestudentshavetoworkoutrulesandmeaningsforthemselvesratherthanbeinggiveneverythingbytheteacher)areanappropriatealternativetostandardpresentationtechniques。Thisiscertainlytrueofvocabularylearningwherestudentswilloftenbeaskedtodiscoverforthemselveswhatawordmeansandhowandwhyitisbeingused。

Atintermediatelevelswecanassumethatstudentsalreadyhaveaconsiderablestoreofvocabularyratherthanteachthemnewwordswecanshowthemexamplesofwordsinactionaskthemtousetheirperviousknowledgetoworkoutwhatwordscangowithothers,whentheyshouldbeusedandwhatconnotationstheyhave。

Evenatbeginnerlevels,however,wemaywanttoaskstudentstotrytoworkoutwhatwordsmean,ratherthanjusthandingthemthemeanings,whenstudentshavehadago,withthewordswecanleadfeedbacksessionstoseeittheyhaveunderstoodthewordscorrectly。

Weknowthatlearnerswillselectthewordstheywanttolearn。Weknowthatthewordstheyhaveacquiredseemtomovebetweenactiveandpassivestatus,andweknowtheinvolvementwithwordislikelytohelpstudentstolearnandrememberthem。Inotherwords,itweprovidetherightkindofexposuretowordsforthestudentsandifweprovideopportunitiesforstudentstopracticethesewordsthenthereisagoodchancethatstudentswilllearnandremembersomeorallofthemasRichardRossnerwrites:

Thefactorsthatarecrucial,surely,arethoseleasteasilycontrolledsuchastherelevanceofawordtoanindividual’simmediatewants,needsandinterest,theimpactonhisofheraffectonthefirstfewencountersandthenumberofopportunitiestobringitintoactiveuse。“

viii。Usingthenativelanguage:

Theuseofthenativelanguagetoconveymeaningmaybedirectorindirect。Thatis,thenativelanguagemaysimplygivethemeaningofawordorphraseoritmayexplainagestureorsymbolthatwilllaterbeusedtoevokethewordorphrase。

a)。Directuseofthenativelanguage:ThequestionAreyouaChinese?“means你是一个中国人吗?“;Whattimeitis“means现在几点?“。

b)Indirectuseofthenativelanguage---gesture:Abeckoningofhandsmeansrepeat“。Ahandcuppedbehindtheearmeanslisten“。Subsequently,whentheteacherwantstotellstudentstolisten,heorshewillsimplysay,listen“and,ifnecessary,accompaniesthewordwiththegesturetoreinforcethemeaningofthecommand。

c)Indirectuseofthenativelanguage---Symbols:Theteachercangivethemeaningofwrittensymbolstoteachthenewwordsinthesecondlanguage。Studentsreadilyrememberthemeaningsassignedtosimpledrawings。

shipbusplane

morningafternoonevening

ix。Bycommunication:

Teachingvocabularybycommunicationmeansteachingthenewwordsthroughthinkingwithstudentsaboutthethingspresentedorhappeninginourdailylift,sincerealexperiencecandeepentheimpressionsofthingsuponpeople,teachingbycommunicationhaveagreatadvantagethatthenewwordspresentedintheconversationimmediatelybecomeanactivewordwhichstudentscanexploitfreelyandproper;forexample,lookatthefollowingconversationbetweenateacherandastudent:

Teacher:doyouenjoyyourselfonthenationalday?

Student:yes!

Teacher:Whatdidyoudoonnationalday?

Student:MyfatherbroughtmetoBeijingandthatisthefirsttimeIraveledbyplane?It’svery,very…

Teacher:Isitveryexcitingandpleasant?

Student:yes,yes,it’sveryexcitingandpleasant。

Fromthecommunication,thestudentsconsciouslyofunconsciouslyfeeltherelationshipbetweenenjoy“,theNationalDay(holiday)“,gotoBeijing(travel)“,exciting“andpleasant“。Andsincehereallyhasexperiencedthetravelandurgentlywantstoexpresshishappyfeeling,withtheteacher’sprompting,hewouldremembertheverbenjoy“andtheadjectiveexciting“andpleasant“well,andhavenodifficultyinexploitingthemnexttime。

Anotheradvantageofteachingvocabularyincommunicationisthatitcanarousethestudents’motiveandinteresttowardenlargingtheirsizeofvocabulary。Whenstudentsmeetdifficultyincommunication,theywillhavetheurgetoconsultthedictionaryoraskforthehelpfromtheteacherortheotherstudents,andtrytorememberthewordhewanttoexpresssothatnexttimehewouldnotbeawkwardwhenspeakingout。

x。Teachingvocabularyincontext:

Thesamewordcanhavevariousmeaningsindifferentcontexts。Toconveythemeaningofanewwordexactly,itisbettertopresentthewordinthesentenceorinthetext。Thereareatlastthreeadvantagesofteachingvocabularyincontext:

Firstly,assessingthemeaningofawordincontextobligesthelearnertodevelopstrategies,suchasanticipatingandinferencing,whichbecomeincreasinglyprofitableaslearningprogressesbecausetheyinstillanattitudeofself-reliancethatisthehallmarkofproficiency。

Secondly,systematicallymeetingnewwordsincontextunderlinesthefactthatwordsareindeedusedindiscourseforpurposesofcommunication。

Finally,contextprovidesanindicationofthewaythewordsareused。

Allthesefactorsmaycontributetoalearner’sautonomytolearnEnglishandtofacilitatethetransferofknowledgethataccompaniesit。

Forexample,lookatthefollowingpassage:

Maryisaverydiligentstudent。Shegetsupveryearlyeverymorning。Shereadalotofbooksandstudyveryhard。Thisyearshegetstheschoolprize。“

Whenteachingtheworddiligent“,teachercanpresenttheabovecontextsothatstudentscanguessitsmeaningthroughthefollowinginformationandsetuparelationshipbetweendiligent“,early“,readbooks“,studyhard“,andschoolprize“。Thismethodofteachingnotonlyhelpthestudentstounderstandtheexactmeaningofanewword,butletthemhaveanideaaboutthegroupofwordsthatoftenappearsimultaneouslyinharmony。

xi。Byintroducingtheknowledgeofculturebackground:

Englishvocabularysystemisanopensystem。Itconsistentlyadoptsvariation,transformationandhasbeeninfluencedbyotherlanguagesintheworldforalonghistory。Withtheknowledgeoftheculturebackgroundofthevocabulary,teachercanmakevocabularyteachingmorevivid,interestingandimpressive。Forexample,whenteachingthewordNEWS“,teachercantellthestudentshowthiswordcameintobeing。Itissaidthat,NEWS“originatedfromthefirstletterofthefourdirections---N(south),E(east),W(west)andS(south)---indicatingthatnewscomesfromandspreadstoallovertheworld。

Anotherexample,whenstudentscomeacrosssuchsentenceasIt’srainingcatsanddogs。“Theniftheteacherknowstheculturebackgroundofthisidiom,thestudentswouldfeelitinterestingandnotsostrange。Legendsaidthatthereisagalewithinthecat’stail,sothecatisconsideredasasymbolofthestrongwind;andawisemannamedOdinusuallycarriedwithhimawolfandadogwithhimtopromptthefarmersthattherainstormwascoming。Sorainscatsanddogs“meansrainsheavily“。

IV。Byadoptingscientificvocabularyteachingtechniques,teacherscanhelpstudentsimprovetheirlanguageacquisitionabilityandlanguagecompetence:

Withtheforgoing,Idon’tmeantodisagreealltraditionalvocabularyteachingmethodsandtakeinallthenewmethodswithoutdiscrimination。ButI’mcaringaboutthebadinfluencebroughtbysomeawkwardtraditionalvocabularyteachingmethodswhichareoverusedandexploitedinflexiblybymanyteachersinmiddleschoolclassroom。AsfarasI’mconcerned,Ithinkateacher’sbehaviorandteachingmethodsusuallyhavegreatinfluencetowardhisstudents,especiallythoseinmiddleschool;therefore,beforehebecomesaqualifiedteacher,heshouldpossessinfluentprofessionalknowledgeandgoodteachingtechniques,sincevocabularyteachingisanimportantpartofEnglishlanguageteaching。Whetherateachercanhandlethisprocesstechnicallybearsonthestudents’languageacquisitionabilitysuchasobservation,analysis,creation,thinkingandcommunication,andtheirlanguagecompetence。Ifhetriestoobservetherulesworkinginthestudents’learningprocesses,concernabouttheirinterestandpsychologicalneeds,andapplymorescientificandefficientvocabularyteachingtechniqueswhicharefitforthem,hewillsucceedinarousingthestudents’motivestolearnEnglishwellandlearnitinarelaxingandscientificwayinwhichthelargessizeofvocabularyisnotthefinalteachingtarget,buttheimprovementoflanguagecompetence。Thatistosay,nottoletEnglishbecomeanaccumulatedknowledge,butatoolforcommunication。

CONCLUSION

TherearemanyfactorscontributingtotheinefficiencyinEnglishteaching。Inappropriateteachingmethodsbyteachersareamongthesefactors。But,Ithink,thebasicreasonfortheinefficiencylaysinthetraditionalteachingsystem---teach-dominantcurriculumsystem。ToimprovetheeffectivenessandefficiencyofEnglishteaching,weshouldfocusonthereformationoftheoldteachingsystem。MiddleschoolEnglishteachersshouldtrytoconverttheirrolesfortheneedsofthestudents。Theyshouldmaketheclasstobelearner-centered,moredemocraticandlessteacher-dominant,stressonstudents’participationinclassroom,showmoreconcernfortheirthinkingandtheirneedsforinstruction。Onlyinthiswaycantheyhelptoimprovethestudents’languagecompetenceandtheirabilitytouseEnglishfreelyincommunication。

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3。H。G。Widdowson,TEACHINGLANGUAGEASCOMMUNICATION,OxfordUniversityPress,1978

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Discovering Techniques of Vocabulary Teaching in Middle Schools【507字】:http://www.youerw.com/jiaoxue/lunwen_159068.html