题目;英语词汇教学的感悟

ReflectiononEnglishVocabularyTeaching

一.CurrentSituationofVocabularyTeachingamongStudents

Withtherapiddevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,the“globalvillage”isbecomingsmallerandsmaller.English,aswidelyusedtoolforcommunicationaroundtheworld,hasbecomethemostpopularlanguageinChina.“InChina,lexicologyhasbecomethecompulsoryorselectedcourseforstudents”(LeiYu,2013:10).Vocabularyteachingisoneofthemostimportantstepsinlanguageteaching.IthasbeenarguedthattheultimategoalofEnglishteachingistocultivatetheabilityofcommunication(FengJunying,2010:157).Vocabularyteachinghavemademanyachievements.Withvocabularytextbookssprungup,manyvocabularyteachingmaterialsonthemarkethavebeenappearedsothatthestudentscouldnotdistinguishwhichoneisthebest.Whatismore,traditionalEnglishteachingmethodhasbeenpermeatedtomultidisciplinary.ItnotonlyincludeslearningEnglishlanguage,butalsoinvolvestrade,automobile,businessandsoon.ChineselearnerslearnEnglishfromjuniorhighschool.Toalargeextent,theyhavelearneditmanyyears.Theforeignlanguageteachingdependsoneffectivenessofvocabularyteaching,includingthestudents’capacityofvocabularylearningstrategiesandvocabularyproficiency.Nowadays,Englishvocabularyteachingnotonlypayattentiontothespellingofwords,butalsotakeslistening,speaking,readingandwritingintoconsideration.Teachersnotonlypayattentiontothescoresoftext,butalsothestudents’overallability.Manyteachersadoptassociativememorytoenhancecognitiveabilityofvocabularyteaching.Forexample,teachersassociatefamilywithgrandfather,grandmother,fatherandmother.SometeachersalsoassociateEnglishsongsandEnglishstoriestodeepentheirunderstandingofvocabulary.Englishvocabularyteachinghasbeencalledontoprovidestudentswithabilitytouselanguagetocommunicate.Itisconducivetoimprovingstudents’wordpowerinprocessofcommunicativecompetence.

二.BasicProblemsintheEnglishVocabularyTeachingProcess

Atpresent,vocabularyteachingalsoexistsomeproblems.Teachersfailtobeawareofrelationshipbetweenvocabularyandculture.StudentscouldnotcultivatetheirinteresttoEnglishvocabularylearning.Itisalsounreasonabletodesignvocabularyinthetextbook.Thecurrentsituationofvocabularysituationisfarfromsatisfactory.SoRead(1993:357)thinksthatmoreemphasisshouldbepaidtovocabularyteaching.

Inthefirstplace,fromtheperspectiveoftheteachers,teachers’teachingmethodisboringandtediousforstudents.Asweallknow,thewayofEnglishvocabularyteachinginChinaincludesfoursteps:teachingnewwords,rememberingnewwords,teachingthepassageandhaveatest.Teachersusuallyfollowthesamepatterntoteachwordsandtheclassesaremostlyteacher-centered.Beforeclass,theteacherasksthestudentstopreparethewords,theteachertellsstudentshowtopronounceandspellwords,checkthepronunciation,pickupsomekeywordsorphrasestoexplain,andasksstudentstorememberwordsandtheirChineseequivalentsmechanically.Thentheteacherspendsmostoftimetoexplainvocabularyinthepassageandputmoreeffortsonexercisesinthetextbook.Thatis,theyteachtextsandvocabularyseparately.Duringthisperiod,theteacherasksthestudentstoanswersomequestions,afterclass,studentsareaskedtomemorizeallnewwords,buttheydon’tknowhowtousethemsmoothly.What’smore,duringstudy,mostEnglishteachersteachwordsaccordingtothewordlistsandignorevocabularyinpassage.Theyusuallyaskstudentstounderstandthewordswithoutconsideringthecontext.Intheperiod,teachergoesbythebook;studentsonlytakenotes,andpassivelyacceptthelanguageinformation.Teachersalwaysthinkthatstudentsdonotworkhard.Aviciouscircleisformed:thepoormethodsoflearningbyrotemakethestudentsunabletodealwithnewdifficulties.Meanwhile,studentscouldnotcatchtheeffectiveway,consumingmuchtimeandenergy.Andtheylacktheself-learningability,whichmakeEnglishprogressslow.Whatismore,whenteachersexplainsomevocabulary,theyevendonotdistinguishdifferentculturebetweenChineseandEnglish.Inaddition,ithasbeenignoredbyteacherswhothinkitisnotnecessarytodevotetimetovocabularyteaching.Theteachersaskthemtowritenotesdown.Thentheydoit.

Inthesecondplace,fromtheperspectiveofthestudents,theinitialproblemofthestudentscomeacrossistolearnvocabulary.Theyregarditasdisasterratherthaninteresttolearn.Theenthusiasmofstudentsisgreatlyreduced.Actually,knowledgeiscloselyconnectedtolearningstrategies.Ifthestudentshavethecorrectlearningstrategies,theymaybeinterestinvocabularyteaching.Infact,studentshaveagoodknowledgeoftheimportanceofvocabularylearning.Inaddition,mostvocabularyteachingmethodsareisolated.Studentscouldnotunderstandsignificanceofputtingcultureintovocabularyteaching.What’more,studentsalwayscomplainthevocabularylearningtask.MoststudentsfinditisabarrierforthemtorememberEnglishvocabulary.Studentsarerequiredtoremembervocabularymanytimes.Besides,lowefficiencyhasbecomeabottleneckinvocabularyteachingandtheeffectisnotsogood.Consequently,theylosetheirinterestinthevocabularyteaching.TheyarealsounwillingtolearnEnglishanymore.StudentsalwaysconsiderthatEnglishvocabularyhasacounterpartinChineselanguagewithsamemeaning;eachonehasanequivalentChinesemeaning.Itwillnotcultivatethestudents’abilityoflearningandusingwordseffectively.Forexample,thepassagecalled“IHaveaDream”hasasentence,“Hismessagewasthatblackpeopleshouldnotbeseparatedbutshouldbetreatedwithrespectinthesamewayasotherpeople”(MartinLutherKing,1963citedinCentralCompilation&TranslationPress,2001:25).Here,“treat”means“beingregardas”.Thereisnodoubtthatithasothermeaningsinliteralmeaning,suchas“dealwith”,“entertainsomebody”,“curingsomebody”andsoon.Butsomestudentsonlyknowthemeaningsofdealingwith.Ifyouaskthestudentswhatisthemeaningof“Dutchtreat”.Theyareataloss,maybeitmeanstoentertainsomebodyinDutchmanners.Infact,BritishholdtheviewthatHollandissomeanthattheylearntosavemoneyindealingwithsomething.So,ifteachercannotconnecttheculturebackgroundswiththevocabulary,theywillnotcultivatethestudents’abilityoflearningandusingthewordseffectively.TheydonotknowthatthesameEnglishwordsmaybedifferentindifferentculturalcontexts.AfterstudyingEnglishforyears,manystudentsfindithardtounderstandsomereadingmaterials,thoughtheyhaverememberedsomanyEnglishwords.Whentheyspeakorwritesomething,theycannotfindappropriatewordstoexpress.Theteachersfinditeasierforstudentstoforgetwords.Afterall,inChina,Englishisnotourmothertongue.“Chinesestudents’culturalmisunderstandingisduetotheinterferenceoftheirmothertongue-Chinese”(ZhangXiuqing,2004:44).StudentsonlyuseEnglishintheirclassrooms.Theyalsolackreallanguageenvironment.Teachersalwayscomplainthateventhoughstudentsrememberthesewordsmanytimes,theywillforgetthemlater.Soitisabigtaskforstudentstorememberwordsinthevocabularyteaching.Itisuniversallyknownthatthemostdifficultthingsinthereadingmaterialsisnewwords.

Inthethirdplace,itisunreasonabletodesignvocabularyinthetextbook.Therepetitionrateofwordsissolowthatitiseasyforstudentstoforgetvocabulary.Forexample,inContemporaryCollegeEnglish.,theword“crouch”onlyappearonce,thatis,“There,about50feetaway,crouchedmytwoattackerswiththeirtailsbetweentheirlegs.”Theglossaryprovidesthevocabularyplatformforteachersandstudent.Andtheteachersexplainthemeaningsaccordingtothewordlist.Generallyspeaking,somevocabularyreferencesclassifywordsaccordingtoalphabeticalorder,whichincreasethedifficultiesforstudentstorememberwords.Wealsofindthatitisunreasonabletodesignvocabularyexercisesinsometestbooks.Forexample,

Youcannotrunabusinesswithouttakingrisks.

=2\*GB3

②

Successisajourney,notadestination.

Womendemandanequalsayinimportantaffairs.

=4\*GB3

④

thefilmquicklybecameahitalloverthecountry.

=5\*GB3

⑤

theoldcityareahasbeenheavilyhitbytheearthquake.(ContemporaryCollegeEnglish,2002:41)

Fromthetext,wecometoconcludethatthesinglesentenceisbasedonthepractice,andonesentenceisnotconnectedwithanotherone.

Aboveall,withproblemsofvocabularyteachingputforward,whethertheteachersareawareoftheproblemsornothasanimpactonthelevelofEnglishvocabularyteaching.So,theteachersshouldnotonlyrealizeproblems,butalsofindwaystosolveit.ItisreallythekeypointthatimprovesthelevelofEnglishvocabulary.

三CulturalStrategiesintheEnglishVocabularyTeaching

InviewofthecurrentsituationinEnglishvocabularyteaching,somesuggestionsforEnglishlearnersareputforward,mainlyinvolvingassociationmemorymethod,cultivatesensitivityoflanguageandsoon.

3.1LaunchAssociationTeachingActivitiesintheClassroom

Studentsneedmorediversitiesofteachingmethods.Invocabularyteaching,teachersshouldenlightenstudentstohaveassociationswithspecificvocabularytopromotetheunderstandingofnewwords.“TeachingEnglishsongsisagoodwaysinEnglishvocabularyteachingactivities”(LiXia,2004:54).Themaintaskofvocabularyteachingistoenablethelearnerstoconnectvocabularywithobject,andthenuseitproperly.Forexample,“Iambluetoday”.Itmeans“Ifeelgloomy”.Ifsomestudentstranslateitliterally,theywillmakemistakes.Englishisnotourmothertongues;weonlyuseitinourclassroom.So,italsoasksustocreatethelanguageenvironmenttocommunicatewithotherpeople.

Whetherassociationmethodsinvocabularyteachingcanbecarriedoutsuccessfullyinclasslargelydependsonteachers’teachingmethods.Therefore,teachersshouldlaunchcolorfulactivitiesaboutvocabularyteaching.Formemorizingwordlist,thetraditionalvocabularyteachingtechniqueislargelydependentontranslation(Cook,2000:44).Teachersshouldmakeadvantageofteachingtechniquestocreateteachingenvironmentandguidestudentstoassociatevocabulary.Forexample,whenstudentsstartschool,teachersguidestudentstoremindofcoursestheytake,whichincludeChinese,English,matchandpolitics.The“vehicle”remindstudentsofcars,busandtrain.So,strengtheningassociationtrainingofvocabularyteachingisindispensable.

3.2CultivateStudent’sSensitivityofLanguageandCross-CulturalAwareness

Englishteachingmethodshouldbediversified.Ithasbeenarguedthattheteachersshouldupdatetheirteachingmethod,whichisthebasisofchange(DaiXueying,2009:32).Thus,whenteachersteachvocabulary,studentsshouldcommunicateinacertaincontext.Separatedfromcontext,themeaningofawordwouldbeunlimited.Sowemusthavetheaidofawidercontexttochooseitsacceptationsoastoserveitbetter.Meanwhile,onewordhasmanymeaningsoftheword,themeaningsofthewordisnotisolated.Forexample,thewordof“contribute”hasmanymeanings;thestudentscouldrememberitlikethis:aperson“contributes”tothenewspaper,andcontributesthemoneytothesociety,thiswaymakecontributiontothesociety.

Inshort,inanalyzingofdifferentcultureandvocabularyteaching,itshouldmakestudentsrealizetheexistenceofculturaldifferenceandthenecessitytorespectit.Buildingagoodlanguagecommunicationenvironmentisessential.Intheteachingvocabulary,culturaldifferenceisofgreatsignificancetoEnglishvocabularyteaching.Theteachershouldintroducethebackground,promotingthestudentstomakeuseofthecommunicationplatformtofeeltheculture.Readingisagoodwaytocultivatethesensitivityoflanguage.Asthesayingsgoes“practicemakeperfect”.Meanwhile,“Consultingisaneffectiveapproachtolearningvocabulary”(SunChaoxia,2011:59).Thecultivationofculturaldifferencesalsoneeduspayattentiontothedifferentculture.Whenstudentsreadsomematerialsabouttheculture,attentionshouldpaidtovocabulary.Learningtheculturaldifferenceisbasedonintereststhatattractstudents,interestsarethepoweroflearningthings.Itisalsoconducivetodevelopingstudents’interculturalcommunicativecompetence.

3.3UpdateLanguageMaterialsandtheWayofCulturalIntegration

Teachersshouldadopttheflexiblemeasurestoattracttheirinterests,enhancetheirsensibilityofwordsandenrichtheirlanguageknowledge.“Inteachingvocabulary,theteachershouldsetsituation,andhelpstudentstohaveabetterunderstandingofthevocabulary”(NiXuehua,2007:149).Forexample,bywatchingthefilmorreadingmaterial,studentscanunderstandthewords,studythewordsandapplythewords.Thepresentvocabularymaterialscannotprovideagoodfeedback,thefirstwordinvocabularymaterialsarealways“abandon”.Soitisnecessaryforstudentstochoosebookstha