Memory Theories And Vocabulary Expansion In Content-based Instruction

In the English testing system of entrance examination to the universities, reading comprehension holds an important position and objective test questions take an increasingly big proportion in recent years, which make English learners consider that there is no need to waste much time on vocabulary learning. Actually the amount of vocabulary and the capacity of using these vocabularies have a direct impact on a learner's performance in thought and language expression. Facts have borne out that fail to grasp a certain amount of vocabulary at the early stage of learning a foreign language can lead to the loss of interest even quitting of the study. In this sense, some effective memory theories and strategies, if can be instructed to learners, will undoubtedly improve their interests in learning and help them to be good learners. As the leading factor during an efficient teaching process, teachers should play the guiding role in foreign language study, particular in vocabulary learning. Recent years have witnessed the rising of content-based instruction in the classrooms in China's secondary schools as most teachers and learners realize that CBI, a teaching method that emphasizes learning about something rather than learning about language, can not only enhance the efficiency of language learning, but promote the vocabulary expansion through the presentation of memory context for vocabulary learning. This thesis tries to expound upon the influence of memory theories on vocabulary expansion in content-based EFL classroom. Through case studies from a secondary school it analyzes if and how CBI facilitates the memory of vocabulary, as can be seen in the following five chapters. Chapter I. Introduction. In this part the author briefs on the national English curriculum innovation and some issues in implementing the new English curriculum with special reference to vocabulary learning. Chapter â…¡. Literature review. In this part, the author presents three main theories in this field, memory theories, vocabulary acquisition and content-based instruction. Readers can also find reference from other related theories, such as the model of memory, memory stores, vocabulary expansion in a content-based EFL classroom, etc. Chapter â…¢. Case studies. In order to base the argument on a more convincing way the author applies theories into a CBI class in a secondary school. Chapter IV. Discussion. On the basis of the research, the author elaborates and presents arguments through in-depth and wide-ranging discussions centering on: CBI facilitates memory of meanings of vocabulary; CBI facilitates memory of contexts in which vocabulary is used and CBI facilitates memory strategy of which leads to vocabulary expansion. At the same time, some problems in the studies are also analyzed and possible solutions are provided in this part. Chapter â…¤. Conclusion. Through the analysis about the cases, it can be argued that to a certain extent the language context created by CBI classroom is helpful to the application of memory strategies in vocabulary expansion.