An Analysis of English Vocabulary Teaching Strategies in Rural Junior Middle School Problems and Suggestions （浅析农村初中英语词汇教学的策略问题及建议）.doc

An Analysis of English Vocabulary Teaching Strategies in Rural Junior Middle School Problems and Suggestions浅析农村初中英语词汇教学的策略问题及建议1. Introduction 1.1 Importance of Vocabulary TeachingAs widely known, language learning involves three parts: pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary, as one of three components, is essential and important to peoples communication and language learning. One of the famous linguists Wilkins（1987 ）once said that:“without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. ”(Zhang Ping 2006，21) To some degree, vocabulary is the ligament for people to communicate with each other. Without enough words, one cant communicate with others, no matter how wonderful his grammar and pronunciation are. Therefore, acquiring adequate vocabulary is of critical importance to language learners. It is clear that without words, language learning will turn out to be a castle in the air. So the quantity and the accuracy of vocabulary grasped by students are one of the standards that is used to measure ones level of language, the teacher have to pay much attention to vocabulary teaching, especially to its strategy in rural junior middle schools.Thus, vocabulary teaching should be considered as one indispensable part of English lessons in middle schools and an important task for teachers to fulfill. Usually, what teachers do have good or bad influence on students. If his methods are easily accepted by students, he could easily arouse their interest and help them to develop a solid foundation of language acquisition ability. Whereas if he fails to do so, it might bring a heavy blow to students confidence and might cause them to disgust English.1.2 Three Distinguished Features of English VocabularyEnglish words are quite different from Chinese characters, the former is a spelling system while the later is a stroke system. English words have three distinguished features: Firstly, the pronunciation of each word is corresponded to its spelling. Secondly, English words often have more than one meaning. When we come across a word, try to guess its meaning from the context in which it is used. Thirdly, English words can change their shapes and their grammatical values, too. Students need to know facts about word formation and how to twist words to fit different grammatical contexts and how suffixes and prefixes work. Knowing the three distinguished characteristics of English vocabulary will help teachers to deliver vocabulary teaching.In china, especially in rural junior middle schools, English teachers do not realize the importance of vocabulary teaching and three features of English vocabulary, so they do not emphasize too much on vocabulary and students are poor in learning.Therefore, this paper aims to show some scientific methods of vocabulary teaching and learning. In the following parts, the author will discuss three topics:(1) investigation and analysis about current problems of vocabulary teaching and learning from rural junior middle schools; (2) put forward several advanced and scientific teaching and learning methods; (3) conclusions on English vocabulary teaching in rural junior middle schools.2. Investigations and AnalysisIn order to find out some main problems of vocabulary teaching and learning in rural junior middle schools, the author have made a questionnaire from students. By taking this investigation result from rural junior middle schools, we know 57% students think their teachers often teach isolated words which are listed in textbook, 80% students consider that their English teachers ignore the relationship between words and understanding of words, more than half students are lazy, more than 80% students fail to follow the memory and so on. In the light of this investigation, the author finds out problems existed in vocabulary teaching and learning, some drawbacks are listed as follow:2.1 Current Condition of Vocabulary Teaching and LearningFirstly, students dont think much of learning vocabulary. They think it will take them a long time to remember words, so just be able to read and write is enough. Though some students spend much time learning it, they dont have good learning effect. Among them, they remember words inflexibly without memorial ways. So the more quickly they learn, the more quickly they forget. According to the questionnaire, we know 70% students have this phenomenon. Secondly, vocabulary teaching ways are very dull. A large number of teachers spend one and two lessons teaching vocabulary of each unit. They usually explain words and let students remember and recite them by themselves without relating to daily life. In class, teachers role is just an educator and information provider, students role is only listener, so they will easily feel tired and uninteresting. Therefore, they are sick of listening and poor in learning vocabulary.2.2 Main Problems of Vocabulary Teaching 2.2.1 Treating All Words EquallyFrom the investigation, 40% students could not tell important words from unimportant words. That is because some English teachers treat all vocabulary equally. In other words, they generally imply that students should be able to grasp all vocabulary presented, including receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary. But linguists point out that all speakers are able to recognize more words than they usually use on a productive level, because productive vocabulary is utilized in everyday speech. Receptive vocabulary, on the other hand, although needed for comprehension, is not necessarily essential for production in speaking and writing. However, teachers who do not notice this fact ask students to concentrate equally on the acquisition of both types of vocabulary, which adds much burden to students, and cause them to become tired of vocabulary learning, thereby reducing the effectiveness of their studies.2.2.2 Teaching Words in Isolation and in One-to-One Correspondence to Chinese WordsIn English vocabulary, there are many different words in sentences and expressed in the context with completely different meanings. For example: (1) Is he running in the 100 meters? (Race) (2) Run for president. (Election)(3)The report ran in all the newspaper. (Published) (4)He ran a cow into a barn. (Rush)Because of the polysemy, it is precisely that words must be taught in certain context, so that students know how to use them. However, in actual teaching, some teachers, for the sake of convenience, only teach words in accordance with the word list. They pick out new words in the text, list them on a paper, and then consult dictionary about meanings and copy all the meanings of that word to a number of students, finally ask them to recite. But in fact, the same word has different social meanings in different context. Learning English vocabulary is not just to memorize its Chinese equivalent, but to learn the meaning relationship and all other relative words in English within the context of cultural life. Such teaching method separate context, many students feel that learning vocabulary is too dry and dull, so gradually, they lose interest. As time passed, they have sick mentality, which result in decreased performance and made the whole learning process into a vicious circle.2.2.3 Neglecting the Cooperation of Sense Organs：Generally speaking, an average English learner will remember a new word well and make it become an active one if he observes, speaks out, hears, writes as well as recites it. But from the questionnaire, we know there is only 2% student notice the cooperation of sense organs and many rural middle school English teachers seem to be unaware of this rule. As a result, a few students remember vocabulary in incorrect ways and many English teachers in rural middle schools hold the false belief that the more they write down, the better they remember. Finally most students do not co-operate the functions of eyes, ears, mouth and hands when memorizing new words. They treat the new words as if they are telephone numbers. They read the new words letter by letter without observing the pronunciation rules. For example, when they read the word “classroom”, they do it in this way: “c-l-a-s-s-r-o-o-m, classroom” instead of “clkl-aa:-sss-rr-oou:-mm, classroom”. 2.2.4 Harmful Method of PunishmentIn the countryside, from the investigation, we see 80% students think their English teachers are in favor of copying words many times. They hold the false belief that the more students write down, the better they remember. This awkward punishment often cause students to fear and worry about English lessons. It is true that most of the middle school students are interested in English at the very beginning, because it is a new subject that is full of novelty and interest. And they like their English teachers, too. But with the misuse of teaching methods by their teachers, they may begin to feel discouraged in English learning and disgust their English teachers.Being taught in this way, they achieve little although they take painful efforts in vocabulary learning. Consequently, they cant find much pleasure in English and become more lazy in study. Neither is their English ability improved, nor they are interested in English learning.2.3 Main Problems of Vocabulary LearningFrom investigation, we know that the situation of students implementation in their study was inferior to satisfactory. The subjective problems of students lie in the following two aspects:2.3.1 Learners Inactive AttitudeOn one hand, according to investigation, more than half students are lazy. So when they are asked to remember new words, they are always reluctant to spend much time in accumulating vocabulary. They think learning vocabulary is a boring and time-consuming task and it is not as important as grammar. So they do not make study plan, they just try to remember words meaning before exam or dictation. But the exam not only tests their spelling and meaning, but also the collocation, application and understanding of words. So students should extend the application and understanding of words.On the other hand, students have got into the habit of receiving information from their teachers, they totally depend on their teachers. When meeting new words in their after-class reading, they are unwilling to look up dictionary or guess the meaning from context; when required to read magazines, short stories, most students find they are hard to be read. For them, classroom is the only place to study and they study under the supervision of their teachers and parents.2.3.2 Failing to Follow Memory RuleFrom investigation, we find that nearly 80% rural junior middle school students recite and write vocabulary from memorization, they practice and consolidate words by writing them many times instead of applying them in conversation and context. As is well known, there are two types of memory process: short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory means that the store of input only stays in memory temporarily, while the long-term memory means the store of input stays in memory for more than 10 days, even for the whole life. In fact, our memory process is a recyclable process. According to the survey of linguists, the more times the word is used, the better one remembers it. But many students partially emphasized the function of short-term memory and doing exercises by writing instead of practicing. They ignored cooperation of sense organs, and seem to care more about the amount of vocabulary input than those actual stay in their memory. They claim that time is so limited that they cant spend too much time on the repetition of vocabulary learning.2.4 Reasons that Cause These ProblemsFrom the investigation, we can see that there are subjective reasons and objective reasons that cause poor vocabulary teaching and learning efficiency.2.4.1 Subjective Aspects Teachers Poor Quality and Less AwarenessAccording to the investigation result, we know rural middle school English teachers are poor in the following two aspects. On one hand, in some rural areas, many junior middle school English teachers are supply teachers, they do not accept proper education and they lock of scientific method of vocabulary teaching. Although a small part of these English teachers have accepted the formal college or university education, they are still irresponsible to vocabulary teaching, they think vocabulary does not need teaching. In class, as long as students know how to read and write is enough. After class, ask students to recite them alone and finally accomplish vocabulary teaching by dictation. In addition, they do not pay much attention to phonetic symbols, they think they have been responsible to it, so in the course of vocabulary teaching, they seldom concern with students grasping. But actually, English words are tens and thousands of times of 48(the number of phonetic symbols), so phonetic symbols are implement tools of vocabulary spelling, writing and pronunciation. Only grasped them well can students have the self-taught ability and learn vocabulary well. On the other hand, many teachers ignore the interest training in English class. As a matter of fact, interest is the source of improving the initiative in students learning, it makes students remember words profoundly and heighten memory effect. But many rural middle school English teachers abide by traditional English teaching pattern in class. For example: most teachers spend one or two periods on vocabulary teaching of each unit without any activities and always ask students to read and read again. This cut-and-dried machinery is trainned, students thinking ability could not developed. But Great educator B.A.Cyxomjinhcknn has spoken: “students arriving in school not only for gain knowledge, mainly being for becoming more clever.”(Wang Tianyi 1994， 423) Therefore, if we always just open books and read like machinery in class, we may finally accommodate ourselves to what one English proverb speaks: “ No play makes John a dumb boy.” Therefore, it can be seen that students creative ability improvement are vitally interrelated to teachers quality. Students Laziness Likewise, teachers indifference to vocabulary learning has led to students despise to vocabulary learning and accumulation. When faced with the increasing vocabulary number and degree of difficulty, students gradually become exhausted. They come to school only for finishing the nine-year compulsory education or even for growing up, thus it is unnecessary for them to work hard. Whats more, in our daily life, Chinese is spoken everywhere, whereas English is not very common. From this aspect, students think learned but without practice also will forget quickly. Thus their laziness in thinking and action cause learning effect poor.2.4.2 Objective Aspects Examination Oriented Education SystemGenerally speaking, education system have reformed and improved a lot, but in the most poor and rural areas, according to my investigation, exam-oriented education system is still taking its leading position. Because appraising a schools superior or inferior rank and judging a teachers teaching quality still take the enrollment quotas height as standard. Suppose exam achievement can not go up, even if teachers are good and students like to listen, this is also of no help. Therefore, under this pressure, many teachers do not attach much importance to the classroom teaching, they only think much of exam results instead of teaching methods. Social Environment LimitationFirstly, in some rural junior middle schools, many students start to learn English at grade one of junior middle school, but most students in cities begin to learn English at grade three of primary school, when they enter into middle school, they have accumulate hundreds of word. So compared with those students in cities, rural school students have lagged a lot.Secondly, students in cities can study vocabulary from many channels, such as buy story magnetic tape to learn pronunciation, buy reading materials to enlarge vocabulary size, see the pertinent video document to improve interest. But the great majority rural middle school students have no such condition.Thirdly, as most rural middle schools are very poor, their teaching equipment is simple and dull. But the nine-year compulsory education English textbook (a revised edition) have increased difficulty degree to those students who have not attached English in elementary school. In order to solve this problem, using multi-media in teaching plays an important role. But unluckily, many middle schools in rural areas are short of modernized medium, and those English teachers couldnt provide the brand-new teaching ways to make the vocabulary teaching interesting and dynamic.All in all, the school environment limitation and teachers poor quality become the main reason that led to students poor learning effect. So it is particularly important and necessary to make vocabulary teaching and learning interesting and effective. But how can it be interest? Some scientific and advanced methods will mention below.3. Several Advanced Teaching and Learning Methods After careful observation of the English classroom and study of English pedagogy in rural junior middle schools, as well as my personal English teaching, the author would like to suggest several teaching and learning methods, which aims to make teaching and learning more effective. 3.1 Advanced Teaching Methods3 1.1 Teaching Vocabulary by Using Visual PedagogyVisual pedagogy is a direct perception which is using visuals to teach students in order to make them more direct when they meet some unfamiliar words. Usually the following methods can be used in teaching process in junior middle schools. a. L