交际法在高中英语词汇教学中的应用

毕业论文（设计）PAGEPAGE1TheApplicationofCommunicativeApproachinEnglishVocabularyTeachinginSeniorHighSchoolsTOC\o"1-4"\h\z\u1.Introduction 22.ThecurrentsituationandproblemsofEnglishvocabularyteaching 32.1Thecurrentsituationofvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschools 32.2Theproblemsexistinginvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschools 42.3Thereasonsforproblemsexistinginvocabularyteaching 52.3.1Students’subjectivefactors 52.3.2Teachers’teachingmethods 63.Theobjectivesandimportanceofvocabularyteaching 73.1Definitionofvocabulary 73.2Theobjectivesofvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschools 83.3Theimportanceofvocabularyteaching 94.AbriefintroductionofCommunicativeApproach 104.1ThedefinitionofCommunicativeApproach 104.2MainfeaturesoftheCommunicativeApproach 115.TheapplicationofCommunicativeApproachtovocabularyteaching 125.1Thecommunicativeprinciplesinvocabularyteaching 125.2Establishingcommunicativesituationandcreatingcommunicativeactivitiestoteachvocabulary 145.3Purposeoftheexperiment 155.4Subjectsoftheexperiment 155.5Proceduresoftheexperiment 165.5.1Pre-questionnaire 165.5.2Teachingprocess 16Thefirststage—presentationofnewwords 16Thesecondstage—practice 17Thethirdstage—languageuse 18Thefourthstage--consolidationofvocabulary 185.5.3Post-questionnaire 195.6Resultsoftheexperiment 195.7Analysisoftheresults 206.Suggestionsshouldpayattentionto 226.1Theamountofvocabulary 226.2Learningstrategiesandmemorizingskillsofvocabulary 226.3Rolesofteachersandstudents 236.4Attitudestoerrors 247.Conclusion 25References 271.IntroductionVocabularyisthecarrierforpeopletocommunicatewitheachother.McCarthy(1990:5)said,withoutenoughwordsonecannotcommunicatewithothers,nomatterhowwonderfulhisgrammarandpronunciationare.HiswordsindicatethatvocabularyteachingplaysafundamentalpartinEnglishteaching.Nowadays,therearevariousmethodsinforeignlanguageteaching(FLT)andallthemethodsshowtheimportanceofvocabularyteaching.Itisapitythattraditionalteachingmethodsarenoteffectiveenoughinhelpingstudentstomastervocabularyanddeveloptheircommunicativecompetence.Howtoteachvocabularyandhowtodevelopstudents’communicativecompetencearehotissuesinFLT.Intheearly1970s,theCommunicativeApproachorCommunicativeLanguageTeaching(CAorCLT)whoseultimategoalistodeveloplearners’communicativecompetenceoccurredinEurope.Itincludestwoversions:theweakversionandthestrongversion.TheweakversionofCAstressestheimportanceofprovidinglearnerswithopportunitiestousetheirEnglishforcommunicativepurposes.ThestrongversionofCAclaimsthatlanguageisacquiredthroughcommunication.Sothefourlanguageskills,namely,listening,speaking,reading,andwritingshouldfollowthecommunicativeprinciplebecausetheultimategoaloflearninglanguageistocommunicate.ResearchersandteachershavebeenlookingforavailablewaystoteachvocabularyontheprincipleofCAanddrawingsomeusefulcommunicativewaysthatreflectthisprinciplesoastomakeaneffectiveteachinginpractice.ManyresearchersandteachershaveputforwardtheCAinvocabularyteaching.GuoXiaandJiaJunling(2007)suggestthatweshouldusewebtocreatecontextinvocabularyteaching.ChengLiying(2006)discussesthatvocabularyteachingwithinCommunicativeApproachshouldfocusonpragmaticcompetence,contextandteachingstrategies.ZhangSufang(2004)believesthatvocabularycanbetaughtbychoosingtopicsaccordingtotheunittheme.Thisthesisisdesignedtoanalyzesomerelevantfactorstovocabularyteachingandthedefinition,mainfeaturesandactivitiesoftheCommunicativeApproach.ItisalsodesignedtointroducetheapplicationofCAinvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschools.OnepurposeofwritingthisthesisistoarousemoreteacherstoapplytheCommunicativeApproachinvocabularyteaching.Anotherpurposeistogivesomesuggestionsonimprovingtheprocessofvocabularyteachingandlearningsoastodeveloplearners’communicativecompetence.2.ThecurrentsituationandproblemsofEnglishvocabularyteaching2.1ThecurrentsituationofvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschoolsInChina,theteachingandlearningofEnglishvocabularyhavebeenignoredforalongtimeinseniorhighschools.ResearchersandEnglishteachersinthefieldoflanguageacquisitionhavetypicallyundervaluedandunderestimatedtheroleofvocabulary,usuallyemphasizinggrammarorphonologyascentraltolinguistictheoryandmoreessentialtolanguageteaching.Underthiskindofteachingconcept,knowledgeofEnglishistransmittedthroughtheteacherwhoactsasanauthority,aknowledgegiverandmoralexample.Studentsarepassivereceiversofknowledgeandtheymainlylearnwordusage,grammarrulesandsentencestructuresthroughrepetitionandmemorization.Therefore,afteryearsoflearning,eventhoughtheyhavemasteredgrammarknowledgeverywell,theirabilityofcommunicationisstillweak.Despitethetraditionalneglect,researchers,materialdesignersandteachershavebeenawareoftheimportanceofvocabularyteachinginrecentyears.Newsyllabusandnewteachingmaterialsareputout.Anewvocabularycriterion,SeniorEnglishCurriculumCriterioninChina(2001)causesmoreattentiontotheessenceofvocabularyteaching.Atpresent,FLThassteppedintoanewera.Researchersandteachersaretakingnewinterestinit.Nevertheless,vocabularyteachingisstillconsideredtobetime-consumingandloweffective,andtherearestillsomemisunderstandingsinvocabularyteachingandlearning.2.2TheproblemsexistinginvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschoolsMorefocusisplacedonvocabularyteachingnow,buttherearestillsomeseriousproblemsexistinginvocabularyteaching.First,mostseniorstudentshavenotenoughEnglishwords;second,manyEnglishteachersareshortofeffectiveteachingmethods;andthird,theseniorstudentslackscientificlearningstrategies.2.3Thereasonsforproblemsexistinginvocabularyteaching2.3.1Students’subjectivefactorsThestudents’subjectivefactorshavegreatimpactontheEnglishvocabularyacquisition.Ingeneral,thefactorsconsistofthelearners’Englishlevel,learninginterest,learningstrategiesandmotivationtowardEnglishlearning,etc.SomestudentswhoseEnglishispoorareunabletounderstandwhattheteachersaidintheclass;furthermore,theyfeelshyandhavenoconfidencetospeakEnglishinclass.SomestudentshavenointerestinEnglishatallsothattheyfeeltheEnglishclassisdullandboring.Itisindicatedinpsychologythatinterestcanmotivateapersontolearn.Manystudentsalwayscomplainthattheyworkveryhard,butcannotlearnthevocabularywell.Tosomeextent,theycannotsuccessfullymasterthevocabularyduetotheirlackofscientificlearningstrategies.Sometimes,wemayaskourselves,“WhyshouldwelearnEnglish?”Amajorityofstudentssaythattheylearnforexaminations,whileonlysomestudentslearnforinterest.Motivationtowardlearningdoesaffectstudents’learningefficiency.XinNingalsopointsoutthat“themotivationoflearningisanimportantfactoraffectingEnglishlearners’behaviorofstudy&learningresult”(2001).2.3.2Teachers’teachingmethodsAccordingtoChengLiying(2006),therearesometypicalvocabularyteachingmethodsasfollows:TheDirectMethodTheSituationalLanguageTeachingMethodTheGrammar-translationMethodTheLexicalApproachTheCombinationofPronunciationandSpellingTheSynonymandAntonymMethodTheteachingmethodsmentionedabovehavesomepositiveeffectsontheEnglishvocabularyteaching;however,thosemethodsarenotbeneficialtothedevelopmentofstudents’communicativecompetence.Underthosemethods,studentsreadthevocabularylistaftertheteacher,dosometranslationexercisesofeachwordonthelistandthentrytomemorizethevocabularyitems;theteacherchoosessomebasicorkeywords,paraphrasesthemorpresentssomeexamplestothestudentsandthenasksthemtomakesomesentences.Moreover,vocabularylearningstrategiesandtechniquesarerarelytaughtwhichdecreasesthelearningefficiency.3.Theobjectivesandimportanceofvocabularyteaching3.1DefinitionofvocabularyIntheOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary(2004：1971),vocabularyreferstoallthewordsthatapersonknowsoruses,allthewordsinaparticularlanguage,andthewordsthatpeopleusewhentheyaretalkingaboutaparticularsubject.Linguists,researchersandexperts,however,heldtheirowndefinitionsfromdifferentaspects.Hatch(1995:4)saidtheterm“vocabulary”referstoalistorsetofwordsforaparticularlanguageoralistorasetofwordsthatindividualspeakersofalanguagemightuse.Hediscussedintheaspectofusers.ZhangWeiyoupresentedthat“allthewordsinalanguagemakeupwhatisthegenerallyknowsasitsvocabulary”(2004:3).What’smore,heheldthatvocabularynotonlyreferstothetotalnumberofthewordsinalanguage,butalsostandsforallthewordsusedinaparticularhistoricalperiod.Besides,hementionedthatvocabularyreferstoallthewordsofagivendialect,agivenbook,agivendisciplineandthewordspossessedbyanindividualperson.Inaword,vocabularyreferstothetotalnumberoflexicalitems(singlewords，compoundwordsoridioms)ofalanguage,ortothenumberoflexicalitemsofatargetlanguagethatauserorlearnerknows.Althoughlinguists,researchersandexpertshavedifferentopinionsonthedefinitionofvocabulary,theyhavesomethingincommon.Theyagreethatvocabularyisnotonlysinglewords，phrasesandidiomsinalanguage,butalsothelexicalitemsalanguageuserhas.3.2TheobjectivesofvocabularyteachinginseniorhighschoolsLiHaoyan(2007)saidthatvocabularyteachingisamuchcomplexprocess,includingteachingideas,methodsandskillsandsoon.Vocabularyisoneofthemostimportantcomponents(pronunciation,vocabularyandgrammar)oflanguagelearning.Inseniorhighschools,theobjectivesofvocabularyteachingincludepronunciation,spelling,translation,definition,partofspeech,collocation,discrimination,comparison,associationandapplication.CaoRui(2002)sumsuptheaspectsofvocabularyteachingintofour:pronunciation,grammar,semanticsandtheusageofwords.Allthefouraspectsshouldservecommunication.Moreover,thenewvocabularycriterionSeniorEnglishCurriculumCriterioninChina(ExperimentEdition,2001)mentionsthatstudentsshouldknowthemeaningsandtheuseof3,000wordsand400-500idiomsorcollocations;studentsshouldalsolearnhowtoguessthemeaningofawordfromthecontextsothattheycanenlargetheirvocabulary,distinguishwordmeaningsandimprovetheirabilityofvocabularylearning.Besides,scientificandeffectivevocabularylearningstrategiesandvocabularymemorizingstrategiesareemphasized.3.3TheimportanceofvocabularyteachingAsiswidelyknown,vocabulary,thebuildingmaterial,isessentialtoalanguage,andisimportanttopeople’scommunicationandlanguagelearning.Inanylanguageteaching,vocabularyplaysatremendouslyimportantrole.ThefamouslinguistWilkinsoncesummeduptheimportanceofvocabularyinhisbookLinguisticsandLanguageTeaching:“Withoutgrammarverylittlecanbeconveyed,withoutvocabularynothingcanbeconveyed”(citedinZhangWeiyou,2004:1).Hesaidpeoplecoulddescribefewthingswithoutgrammar,buttheycouldexpressnothingwithoutvocabulary.McCarthythoughtthat“Nomatterhowwellthestudentlearnsgrammar,nomatterhowsuccessfullyhemastersthesoundsofaL2,withoutwordstoexpressawiderangeofmeanings,communicationinthatlanguagecannothappeninanymeaningfulway”(1990:5),whichalsoreflectsthesignificanceofvocabulary.Sincevocabularyissoimportant,weneedtolaystressonlearningit.Besides,communicationisbasedonthevocabulary,forwordsenablepeopletolisten,speak,readandwrite,sovocabularyteachingandlearningisthecoreofthelanguagelearning.Inordertoachievethegoalofcommunication,peopleneedtolearnvocabularyfirst.ThevocabularythatalearnerownswillreflecthisorherEnglishlevel.Thelargervocabularypeopleown,theeasierandfreertheycancommunicate.InChina,manystudentsinseniorhighschoolshavedifficultiesincommunicatinginEnglishafterseveralyears’learning,whichisnotbecausetheydonotmasterthegrammarwell,butbecausethevocabularylearningisabarrierforthem.Lewis(1993:89)heldtheideathatvocabularyacquisitionisthemaintaskofsecondlanguageacquisitionandthelanguageskillscannotbetrainedwithoutvocabulary.Hiswordssupportthatvocabularyteachingandlearningcannotbeundervaluedwhilelearningaforeignlanguage.4.AbriefintroductionofCommunicativeApproach4.1ThedefinitionofCommunicativeApproachCommunicativeApproachiscomprehensivenessofdifferenttheories,sothereisconsiderabledebateastoappropriatewaysofdefiningCommunicativeApproach,andnosinglemodelofCAisuniversallyacceptedasauthoritative.Languageshouldbeconsideredtobeatoolofcommunicationtoteachandlearn,butnottoteachasetofgrammarrulesorsomepiecesofphrasesasthegoaloflanguageteaching.AccordingtoRichardsandRodgers(1986:68),CAstartswithatheoryoflanguageascommunication,anditsgoalistodeveloplearner’scommunicativecompetence.Whatiscommunicativecompetence?“InHymes’view,communicativecompetencereferstotheabilitynotonlytoapplythegrammaticalrulesoflanguageinordertoformgrammaticallycorrectsentencesbutalsotoknowwhenandwheretousethesesentencesandtowhom”(HanXinmin,2004:179).Insummary,CommunicativeApproachisanapproachofforeignorsecondlanguageteachingthatemphasizesthegoaloflanguageteachingistocultivatecommunicativecompetence,whichincludesboththeknowledgeaboutthelanguageandtheknowledgeabouthowtousethelanguageappropriatelyincommunicativesituations.ThecoreoftheCAisthatteachingprocessisacommunicativeprocess.Howatt(1984:279)distinguishesbetweenastrongandaweakversionofCA.TheweakversionstressestheimportanceofprovidinglearnerswithopportunitiestousetheirEnglishforcommunicativepurposesand,attempttointegratesuchactivitiesintoawiderprogramoflanguageteaching.Thestrongversionclaimsthatlanguageisacquiredthroughcommunication,sothatitisnotmerelyaquestionofactivatinganexistingbutinertknowledgeofthelanguage,butofstimulatingthedevelopmentofthelanguagesystemitself.Wecandescribetheformeras“learningtouseEnglish”,thelatteras“usingEnglishtolearnit”.4.2MainfeaturesoftheCommunicativeApproachBasedontheconceptofcommunicativecompetenceandaimingatdevelopingsuchcompetence,CAhasthefollowingfeatures:(=1\*romani)Itemphasizesafunctionalapproachtolanguagelearning.Likewise,tobecompetentinthetargetlanguage,learnersshouldacquirenotonlylinguisticknowledge,butalsothecultureofthatlanguage.(=2\*romanii)Itstressestheneedtogivestudentsopportunitiesforauthenticandcreativeuseofthelanguage.(=3\*romaniii)Itadvocatestask-basedlanguageteaching.Studentsshouldbegiventaskstoperformorproblemstosolveintheclassroom.(=4\*romaniv)Itencouragesthestudentstotakepartinactivelyratherthanjustlistentoorfollowtheteacher.(=5\*romanv)Itfavorsfluencyratherthansimpleaccuracy,meaningratherthanform.(=6\*roman=6\*romanvi)Itemphasizesontheteacher’smajorresponsibilitiestoestablishsituationstopromotecommunication.PeoplehavevariousunderstandingsofCommunicativeApproach,butwegenerallyagreeuponRichardsandRodgers’threeprinciplesaboutCommunicativeApproach.RichardsandRodgers(1986:72)suggestedthethreeprincipleswerecommunicationprinciple,taskprincipleandmeaningfulnessprinciple.Communicationprinciplereferstoactivitiesthatinvolverealcommunicationpromotelearning;taskprincipleimpliesthatactivitiesinwhichlanguageisusedforcarryingoutmeaningfultaskpromotelearning;andmeaningfulnessprinciplestatesthatlanguagewhichismeaningfultothelearnersupportsthelearningprocess.5.TheapplicationofCommunicativeApproachtovocabularyteaching5.1ThecommunicativeprinciplesinvocabularyteachingThevocabularyteachingprinciplescanbesummedupintofour:systemprinciple,communicationprinciple,cultureprincipleandcognitionprinciple(LiSu,2002).LiSu’sconclusionoffersuscomprehensiveprinciplesonvocabularyteaching.Thefourprinciplesshouldbetakenintoconsiderationinvocabularyteaching.Thesystemprinciplehasmeaningsintwoaspects:(a)wemustrealizevocabularyteachingshouldbepassedthroughtheentireteachingprocess.Alongwiththestudents’cognitiveabilityhasbeenenhanced,weneedtoincreasethedifficultyoflearning.(b)Languageisasystemwhichiscomposedbydifferentsubsystems,andvocabularyisoneofthem.Therelationshipbetweenvocabularyandotherconstituentsoflanguageorbetweenvocabularyanditsinternalconstituentshascertainpositiveornegativeinfluenceonthevocabularyteaching.Teachersshouldbaseonthevocabularysystemandtakeabroadviewonthelanguagesystemintheprocessofvocabularyteaching.Theultimategoaloflanguagelearningistocommunicate.Weshouldtryourbesttoletthestudentslearnandusethetargetlanguageinrealenvironment.Throughthesituationalcommunication,thestudentscangetdeeperunderstandingtothewords;moreover,theycanlearntouseappropriatelythewordsthattheyhavelearnt.Explainingthewordinasituationhelpstoinitiatestudent'sinterestanditisgoodforstudentstocommunicate.Thus,theteachermustpayattentiontothevocabularyknowledgeandcultivatethestudents’communicativeabilityincommunicativeactivities.Languageisthecarrierofculture.Languagelearningshouldbeputinaculturalcontext.Awordindifferentculturesmaynothavethesamemeaning.Forinstance,“aluckydog”inEnglishshowsacommendatorysense,butinChineseitconveysaderogatorysense.Itisverynecessaryfortheteacherstomakeuseofallopportunitiestotalkaboutculturalknowledgeinordertoarousethestudents’interculturalconsciousness.Whenwelearnanotherkindofforeignlanguagewhichisdifferentfromthemothertongue,thelanguageknowledgeofourmothertonguewillhaveaneffectonlearningthetargetone.Thenweneedtocompareandanalyzethetwolanguagessoastogetcognitionofthetargetlanguage.5.2EstablishingcommunicativesituationandcreatingcommunicativeactivitiestoteachvocabularyHereanexperimentofestablishingcommunicativesituationandcreatingcommunicativeactivitiestoteachvocabularyistobedescribedindetail.Creatingcommunicativesituationscaninitiatestudent'sinterestandprovidestudentswithameaningfulcontextforroleplayoranillustratedsettingforencounteringnewvocabulary.Itisagoodchancethatlearnerswillbeexposedtotherepeateduseofnewitemsduringthecourseoftheactivity.Theteacherscanusemanywaystoestablishcommunicativesituation.ThekeyassumptioninCommunicativeApproachisthatstudentslearnalanguagethroughengaginginavarietyofcommunicativeactivities.Therearedifferenttypesofcommunicativeactivitiesforteacherstocarryoutinclass.Littlewood(1981:86)groupedthecommunicativeactivitiesintofunctionalcommunicativeactivitiesandsocialinteractionactivities.Theformerincludesidentifyingpictures,discoveringmissinginformation,poolinginformationtosolveaproblem,etc.Thelattercontainsrole-playingthroughsituationandgoals,role-playingthroughdebateanddiscussion,role-playingthroughcueddialogues,andetc.Mostoftheactivitiesmentionedaboveareaimedatdevelopinglisteningandspeakingskills.Activitiesfordevelopingreadingandwritingskillsshouldnotbeoverlooked.Infact,therangeofexercisetypesandactivitiescompatiblewithCAisunlimited.Teacherscancreatetheactivitiesinvariedways.AccordingtotheviewofCommunicativeApproach,activitiesareoftencarriedoutbystudentsinsmallgroupswhichwillprovidealearningenvironment.5.3PurposeoftheexperimentUsingCommunicativeApproachinvocabularyteachingaimsatstimulatinglearners’interestofvocabularylearning,enhancingtheefficiencyofvocabularyteachingandlearning,anddevelopingthefourcommunicativeskills.5.4SubjectsoftheexperimentStudentsinclass15ofShuizhaiSeniorHighSchoolparticipatedintheexperiment.Thereare56students.Duringthesix-weekexperiment,thestudentsweremainlytaughtwiththeCommunicative5.5Proceduresoftheexperiment5.5.1Pre-questionnaireBeforetheapplicationofCAinEnglishteaching,thestudentsweregivenaquestionnaire(Net.1)abouttheirinterestinlearningEnglish.Theywereaskedthefollowingquestions:1.AreyouinterestedinEnglishlearning?2.WhatdoyoulearnEnglishfor?3.HowdoesyourteacherteachEnglishvocabulary?4.Howdoyoufeelthewayyourteacherteachesinclass?5.What’syouropiniononhowtoteachEnglish?(SeetheAppendix)5.5.2TeachingprocessDuringtheteachingpractice,therewereabout4periodsperweekforteachinglanguagepoints(vocabularyandsentencestructure).Generallyspeaking,theprocessofvocabularyteachinghasfourstages,includingpresentationofnewwords,practice,languageuseandconsolidationofvocabulary.Thefirststage—presentationofnewwordsPresentationofnewwordsisthestartofthevocabularyteachingprocess.Theforms,pronunciationsandmeaningsofwordsshouldbepresentedatthisstage.Duringtheexperiment,wetriedtopresentorexplainnewwordsthroughestablishingcommunicativesituations.Thepresentationofnewwordswascarriedoutbypictures,diagrams,stories,readingarticles,discussingissues,proposingsolutions,oracting,etc.Herewetakethephrase“loseheart”forexample.Itappearsinasentenceintheexerciseofunit5inNewSeniorEnglishforChinaStudent’sBook.Studentsshouldmasternotonlythephrase“loseheart”,butalsomorephrasesrelatingtoit,suchas“loseone’sheart”,“breakone’sheart”,“withheartandsoul”,and“learnbyheart”.Ifsuchphrasesarenotpresentedinagoodway,studentsarealwaysconfusedwiththem.Inordertogetstudentsbetterunderstandthephrases,wepresentedtheworditemsinastory“MyfriendTomhaslosthishearttoagirlatfirstsight,sohehaslearntthegirl’shobbiesbyheart.Oneday,hehadachancetoshowhisaffectiontoher,butherrefusalbrokehisheart.However,hewillnotloseheart.Hewillloveherwithheartandsoul.”Targetwordswerepresentedinashortstory.Studentsshowedmoreinterestinlearningthenewwords.Puttingtheform,themeaningandtheusagetogetherwouldleaveanintegratedconceptandadeepimpression.Thesecondstage—practiceTheaimatthisstageistoproperlygraspthemeaningofwordsandthegrammar.Afterintroducingtheformandthemeaningofwords,weletstudentsdosufficientdrillingstoachieveareasonabledegreeoffluency.Intheteachingpractice,wecreatedsomecommunicativeactivitiesforthestudentstopractice.Theactivitieswerecarriedoutbyidentifyingpictures,tellingstoriesaccordingtopictures,discussingingroupsandsomeotherforms.Aftersuchactivities,weactedasaguidetoencouragestudentstodiscussthegrammarandusageingroups.Thethirdstage—languageuseThisstageiscalleduncontrolledpracticeorfluentpractice,emphasizingonthecomprehensiveuseoflanguage.Inthisperiod,wegavestudentsafreshcommunicativetasksoastogivethemanopportunitytousethelanguageformstheyhavelearned.Theactivitiescallfortheintegratedpracticeofthefourlanguageskills—listening,speaking,readingandwriting.Afterpresentationandpractice,thestudentshaveknownthewordmeaning,grammarandusage.Learninglanguageistouseit.Soweshouldhavestudentsuselanguageasmuchaspossible.Wegavesometopicsforthemtodiscussingroupsand