In China, English learners are unfamiliar with word root and affix, thus we have to learn vocabulary in rote learning and spend more time and energy than it really does. In order to improve the efficiency of the vocabulary study, we are in urgent need of learning something about word roots and affixes. As a matter of fact, many students have realized the significance of word roots and affixes in enlarging their vocabulary, but they are lacking relevant knowledge. Just because the teaching of word roots and affixes is not popular in schools, and some English teachers know little about it. Recently, many English lovers begin to study it, a growing number of books on word roots and affixes are published.
As we all know, there is much pressure for senior high school students to study English. One of the major reason is that they lack systematic learning methods of vocabulary, especially knowing 1ittle about word roots and affixes. So it is essential and feasible to study the mnemonic of word roots and affixes in Senior High School English vocabulary teaching and learning.
    This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 points out the research motivation and the layout of this thesis. In Chapter 2, the definition of root and affix, a historical retrospection of root and affix, Nation’ word root and affix learning strategy as well as the significance of root and affix learning are briefly introduced. Chapter 3 discusses the research design. Chapter 4 presents the data analyses. Chapter 5 summarizes major findings, states the limitation of this research, and offers some suggestions for further researches.

Ⅱ. Introduction of Word Root and Affix

2.1 The Definition of Word Root and Affix
2.1.1 The Definition of Root
    There are different definitions of root. In Zhang Zhenbang’s A New English Grammar Course book, Zhang states that ‘‘Derivates are made up of roots and derivational affixes. Root is the foundation of derivates. When different derivational affixes added to the same root, perse words with perse meanings and part-of-speech are formed”(3). This definition lies in the fact that roots are related to affixes. In Li Pingwu’s English Roots and How to Use them to Decipher their Derivatives, root is defined as “Root is the basic morpheme and relates to affixes as well as takes along important lexical information”(5). In Hu Zhuanglin’s Linguistics: A Course Book, root is defined as “A root is the base form of a word that cannot be further analyzed without destroying its meaning”(53). In other words, it is that part of the word that remains when all the affixes are removed.
In this study, the author adopts the definition defined by Li Pingwu to instruct this research.
2.1.2 The Definition of Affix
    In Lin Fumei’s An Introduction to English Lexicology, Lin believes that “affix is the morphological definition which grammatical or lexical information is added to the base” (13). From the perspective of Lin, the large number of words in English made by affixes show its significance as a means of word-formation. Affixes are bound forms that can be added: a. to the beginning of a word (prefix), e.g. dis-, which usually changes the meaning of a word to its antonym: dis--dislike; b. to the end of a word (suffix), -able, which usually changes a verb into an adjective: relay---reliable. In Hu Zhuanglin’s Linguistics: A Course Book, affix is defined as “An affix is the collective term for the type of morpheme that can be used only when added to another morpheme( the root or stem)”(53). Thus affix is naturally bound.
Compared with the definition to affix, the author takes the definition defined by Lin Fumei to instruct this research.
2.2 A Historical Retrospection of Root and Affix
    Through surfing the Internet, the author realized that the relevant studies abroad do not discuss root and affix mnemonic alone, they discussed it in the vocabulary learning strategies. Norbert Schmitt pides vocabulary learning strategies into two categories: Discovery Strategies and Consolidation Strategies. Norbert points out that root and affix strategy had significance in Discovery Strategies and Consolidation Strategies(Schmitt 246). Anita J. states that second language learners can study new vocabulary according their culture context of word parts and teachers could methodically teach the vital word affixes and roots in the target language(qtd. in Schmitt 45). At the same time, some scholars abroad only classify the words according to their roots and affixes. For example, Walker C.C, a famous linguist, classifies the words according to the root. First of all, Walker show us some roots containing the same meaning, and then Walker show us many relevant English words containing the roots as given above(36). 词根词缀记忆法在中学英语词汇教学中的运用(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_35010.html