The Application Of Lexical Chunks To English Teaching

It is well known that vocabulary takes a dominant position in a language and plays a critical part in language teaching and learning. Without vocabulary, none of the five skills of a language (listening, speaking, reading, writing, and translating) will be made possible. Exploring and reviewing the positive and effective English learning strategies is an important way to lessen the burden of students and improve the quality of education. People have made a large number of researches about learning strategy of foreign-language vocabulary from different aspects. But how to master the vocabulary effectively remains to study further. This paper studies English vocabulary teaching based on the theory of constructivism, in which lexical chunks, not individual words, are the center of the study. This paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter One is the introductory part in which the author states the significance and the purpose of writing this paper. Chapter Two is the theoretical basis of this study, which explains the concepts of constructivism and reviews the research on vocabulary learning strategies. Chapter Three introduces lexical chunks, explains its definition, classification and functions. It also emphasizes the importance of lexical chunks in language learning and explicates the teaching approaches applying chunks. Chapter Four describes the research design. The subjects chosen for the present study are 100 non-English major freshmen in JiLin Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture. The investigation is composed of two parts: a semester's study of lexical chunks based on "A Social Constructivist Model"and two tests. Test one is...