english essay4Word格式.docx
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TonyLuxon
9/15/99
ContentsPage
1.Introduction…3
2.Hometeachingsituation…5
3.Literaturereviewandpractice
∙Variouswaysofpresentation…7
∙Discoverytechniques…10
∙Meaningfulrevisionexercises…12
∙Dictionaryuse…17
4.Conclusion…17
5.Bibliography…18
—AnApproachtoSuccessfulVocabularyLearning
Introduction
Itiscurioustoreflectthatformanyyears,vocabularyhasnotreceivedtherecognitionitdeservesinEnglishlanguageteachinginShanghaiseniorhighschools.Notthatithasbeencharacterisedbyneglectinquantity.Avastamountoftimeisdevotedtoteachingnewwords.Classroomblackboardsareoftenlitteredwithmassesoflexicalitems,andstudentsarekeptbusycopyingandmemorizingpageafterpageofvocabularylists.Thesimplefactisthatalthoughteachersdopayattentiontovocabulary,theyseemtolacksufficienttechniquestoaddresstherealneedsofthestudents.Thisessay,therefore,dealswiththisproblemandsuggests,basedonatheoreticalpointofview,someusefultechniquesthatmayresultin,hopefully,amoreefficientandeffectivevocabularyteaching.Quiteafewpracticalclassroomapplicationswillalsobegiventoillustratethepoints.Idohopethattheywillbeofhelptomyfellowteachers.
HomeTeachingSituation
Vocabularyteachingisundoubtedlyofgreatimportancebecause“Iflanguagestructuremakesuptheskeletonoflanguage,thenitisvocabularythatprovidesthevitalorgansandtheflesh.”Harmer[1991:
153]Anyapplicationofthefourbasicskills（listening,speaking,readingandwriting）canbeimpossiblewithoutthesupportofvocabulary.Probablythat’swhyournewteachingsyllabusaimsatacommandof6,000wordsfortheaveragehigh-schoolgraduates,whichisaconsiderableincreaseifcomparedwiththeformer2,500-wordone.Then,howcanwehelpourstudentstohandlethisarduoustaskwithconfidenceinsteadoffeelingworried?
Isthereanythingwecandotobenefitbothteachersandstudents?
Maybeitisbettertostartfromourhometeachingsituationtoexaminehowweusuallydowithavocabularywordlist.
Step1Studentsarerequiredtoreadallthenewwords,followingeithertheteacherorthetape.
Step2Teachersusesynonyms,definitionsetc.toteachthemeaningofthenewwords.
Step3Ifithappenstobean‘important’word,teacherswillusuallyillustratesomephrasesorallyorontheblackboard,suchas‘explainsth.tosb.’’explainthat-/wh-clauses’
Step4Sentence-translationissometimesusedto‘strengthen’ourlearners’
understandingofthenewwordsandphrases.Forexample,followingstep3,studentsareexpectedtogivesentenceslike‘SheexplainedthemeaningtoJohn.’‘Sheexplainedwhatwaswrong.’orsomethinglikethataccordingtoteachers’Chineseversion.
Step5Studentscopythenewwordsastheirhomework.
Step6Vocabularyquizzesortestsaregivenfromtimetotimeasevaluation,
usuallyfollowingthemodelbelow:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
（Chineseinterpretation（theEnglishWord）（partofspeech）
orEnglishdefinition）
Probablytheaboveprocedureisthemostwidelyused,aswellasthemosttraditional,wayofvocabularyteaching.Itseemsthatweteachershavebeentryinghardtomeetourstudents’demandfor‘words’.Butwhydoourlearnersstillscarcelybearanyinterestandmotivationinvocabularystudy?
Whycan’tthenewwordsbeeasilyfixedintotheirminds?
Whydoesitseemdifficultforthemtomanipulatethenewwordseventhoughtheyhavebeensocarefullytaught?
Whatonearthhindersourvocabularyteachingfrombeingsuccessful?
Justhaveanotherlookatthewholeteachingprocedure,andyoumayfindtheanswerslienowhereelsebutinourteachingmethod:
1.Wetendtokeepourstudentsinapassivesituation.Thatis,theyarerecipientsfrombeginningtoend.Moreoftenthannot,theyhavetolistenandtakenotesforthewholeperiod.Ifwetakeintoconsiderationthatourwayofteachingcanreallybemonotonous,itisnosurprisethattherewillbealackofinterestonthestudents’part.
2.Wetendtofocusourstudents’attentiononthemeaningandformofthenewwordsratherthanuse.Duringbothpresentationandconsolidationstages,theyareseldomaskedtopractiseusingthem.Whatisworse,themodelsweuseinourquizzesandtestseasilymisleadourlearnersintobelievingthatmemorizingwordsequalsvocabularystudyandtherefore,leadtoatotalneglectoftheimportanceofworduse.
3.Wetendtohave,whatseemstobe,thegoodhabitofteachingourstudentseverything,ifpossible.Butwhatifteachersarenotonhand?
Shouldn’twehelpthemandencouragethemtofindawayofself-improvementinvocabularystudyinadditiontoourclassroomteaching?
Literaturereviewandpractice
Theproblemsoutlinedintheprecedingsectionappeartopresentlanguageteacherswithanextremelydauntingtask,yetitisnotnecessarilyso.Certainimprovementinvocabularyteachingmayservetobenefit,asIhavementionedbefore,bothteachersandstudents.
Probablythemostimportantprincipleweshouldalwaysbearinmindisthatwhetherwecanactivateourstudents,produceinthemaspontaneousmotivationtolearnplaysadecisiveroletoanyhighlearningyield.Thesameistrueofvocabularystudy.Consequently,anyclassroomactivityonvocabularyshouldkeepourstudentsinterestedandinvolvedwhiletryingtogetthemtobecomeproperlyacquaintedwithnewwords.Let’slookatsomepossiblewaysofachievingthisaim:
1.Variouswaysofpresentation
Thereisnothingwrongwithourtraditionalverbalpresentationofnewitemsexceptthefactthatoveruseofthisskillmakesourteachingmonotonousandlessattractive.Thereare,infact,manyoccasionswhensomeotherformsofpresentationcanbethebestwaytointroducenewwordstotheclass.
∙Realia
Sometimes,theexplanationislesscomplicatediftherealthingisbroughtintotheclassroom.Byshowingstudentsapieceofchalk,wearemorelikelytobeunderstoodthantellingthemitis“asmallstickofsoftwhiterockusedforwritinganddrawing.”
∙Drawingorsketch
Itdoesn’tmeanthatteachershavetobeartists.Andwecanimaginehoweasilythewordbushcanbeexplainedbysomeverysimplesketchesthatillustratethemeaning.
∙Actionandgesture
Wordslikefrown,tickle,limp,etc.areprobablybettercomprehendedbymime.Anditseemstomethatthisisalsoaneffectivewayofarousinginterestonthepartofstudents.
∙Enumeration
Wecaneasilybuildupsenserelationbetween“general”and“specific”wordssothatthe“general”oneswillnolongerstayabstract.Hobby,forexample,canbeexplainedbylistingvarioustermsrelated,suchas“collectingcoins”“playingchess”andsoon.
∙Showingscalesorgrades
Wordslikecold,usually,etc.maybepresentedwithgroupsofrelatedwordsontheblackboardtomakesurethatthelearnersarequiteclearaboutthescalesandgrades.
hot-----warm-----cool-----cold
always-----usually-----often-----sometimes------seldom-----never
Itisworthmentioningthatactuallythereisarichvarietyofwaysofexplainingnewwords.Usedeithersinglyorintegrally,theyareoftenusefulwaysofintroducingnewwords.
2.Discoverytechniques
Discoverytechniques（wherestudentshavetoworkoutrulesandmeaningsforthemselvesratherthanbeinghandedeverythingbyteachers）havebeensuggested,nowadays,bymoreandmorelinguists.Asfarasvocabularyteachingisconcerned,itismorethananalternativetostandardpresentationtechniques.Whatismoreimportantisthatwhenaskedto‘discoverforthemselves’,studentsareallowedtointeractwithwords!
Itisofpeculiarimportancetosuccessfulvocabularylearningbecause“Experimentsseemtosuggestthatstudentsrememberbestwhentheyhaveactuallydonesomethingwiththewordstheyarelearning.”GairnsandRedman[1986:
90-91]Anotherreasonforproposingdiscoverytechniquesintoourteachingpracticeliesinthat“Usedwithvocabularymaterials,theycanencouragestudentstoactivatetheirpreviousknowledgeandsharewhattheyknow.（iftheyareworkingwithothers）”Harmer[1991:
160]Wewilllookatsomediscoveryactivities:
1.Feelings
∙Lookatthepicturesaboutfeelings.Canyouworkouttheassociatedadjectives?
∙Checkyouranswerswithyourdeskmate’s.
∙Completethefollowingsentencesbyusingtheadjectivesyou’vegot.
--IwenttothepartyinjeansandaT-shirt.Alltheotherpeoplewerewearingsmartsuitsanddresses.Ifeltverye_____________.
--MrsRelkinisverya__________withthepeoplewholiveaboveher.Theylikerockmusicandmakealotofnoise.
--Cathywaitedfortwohourstoseethedoctor.Shehadnothingtoreadandtherewasnothingtodo.Shefeltb___________.
--Theengineercametorepairherwashingmachinethreetimeslastweek,butnowitisn’tworkingagain.Belindaisf_________.
--Liamisverys________.Hedoesn’tlikemeetingnewpeople.
--Iwasverys_________whenIsawhergreenhair.
--Alanisw__________abouthisdaughter.SheisclimbinginColoradoandshehasn’tphonedforaweek.
--Keithwasveryh_________whenhegottheprize.
--Whentheyarrivedatthetopofthemountain,theywereveryt________.
--Shewasverys________whenhercatdied.
--Martinwasaloneinthedarkhouse.Heheardstrangenoises.Hewass__________.
--ThepolicemantoldJennytoturnright,butthesignsaid‘Norightturn.’Shefeltveryc__________.
Inthisdis
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