The Application Of Cognitive Linguistic Theory To Vocabulary Teaching Of College English

Vocabulary is a very important component of language as well as the basis of various language skills. Vocabulary study therefore plays a crucial part in language teaching and learning process. The number of vocabulary that one mastered will certainly affect his language level. In other words, a learner with inadequate vocabulary knowledge will be doomed to fail in the further development of second language learning. However, as to the English teaching and learning, vocabulary is always 'a lion in the way' or 'a stumbling block'. Students are complaining that their teachers' explanation of new words is too dull, while their teachers are annoyed by the students' negative studying attitudes. It is clear that most students learn their foreign language and acquire vocabulary in the classroom. Correspondently, L2 teachers should be responsible for enlarging students' vocabulary effectively and building a strong foundation of their English learningEvery new linguistic theory will affect foreign language teaching. In order to find out effective vocabulary teaching method, people have carried out many researches under the guidance of traditional theories. Pattern drill enjoys great popularity as a result of structuralism; Communicative Approach, influenced greatly by Functional Grammar and theories of some other linguists, lays its stress on learners' communicative competence. Cognitive linguistics is a new developing linguistic school of educational circles of international linguistics and a kind of new research approach in recent years. It is a borderline subject integrated by cognitive psychology and linguistics. The research range of it includes categorization, prototype, metaphor and cognitive grammar, etc. Focusing on the research on language usage principle, cognitive linguistics enables people to deepen the understanding of the cognitive process of language learning and...