On Teaching English Vocabulary In Freshman And Sophomore Classes Majoring In English

Vocabulary acquisition plays a crucial role in language learning. Nevertheless, the teaching and learning of vocabulary have been neglected for a long time in the field of second language acquisition. Fortunately, after 1970s research into vocabulary acquisition has again aroused great interest among scholars. In recent years, more efforts are spent in analyzing the nature of vocabulary acquisition and the pedagogical implication.The paper reports a study carried out in freshman and sophomore classes of Language and Cultural School, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. The purpose is to find a better way in conducting vocabulary teaching that is more effective to assist students'learning. The paper is divided into four parts.Chapter One serves as an introduction of the thesis. In this section, an overview of vocabulary acquisition research is given, together with a general summary of studies on vocabulary acquisition made in China. Significance of the study is also elaborated.Chapter Two gives a brief retrospect into the academic history of the theoretical framework on which the current paper is based on, namely cognitive linguistics, lexical approach and learning strategy. 1) Cognitive linguistics challenges traditional TG hypothesis and advocates nonobjective experiential realism or experientialism. The three main approaches in cognitive linguistics are the experiential view, the prominence view and the attentional view of language. Contemporary study on cognitive aspects in vocabulary learning covers a vast scope: receptive and productive vocabulary, incidental and intentional learning etc.. 2) Lexical approach proponents hold that lexis is the basis of language and should be the central principle in designing syllabus and teaching language. Lexical phrases or chunks, including polywords,...