Effectiveness Of Vocabulary Learning Software On High School English Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary is one of the key elements of language.The depth and width of vocabulary has an important effect on communicative ability of language learners.In China,vocabulary still puzzles a lot of English learners.Although a great variety of vocabulary memorization methods are tried,the students can’t get what they really want.In recent years,with the flying development of communication industry and advancement of multimedia technology,a great number of English learning softwares were made in succession.Vocabulary Learning Software is an application which contains affluent vocabulary information,distinct interface for English learners to learn vocabulary easily.However,there is a lack of empirical researches on vocabulary learning software.Based on theories of vocabulary learning,the thesis aims to investigate the following questions:(1)What are the attitudes of students on Vocabulary Learning Software?(2)Can learning English vocabulary by Vocabulary Learning Software improve students’ vocabulary learning?To answer the above questions,the author chose two classes(a total of 98 participants)with similar English proficiency level from a senior high school in Gansu Province.Quantitative data is gathered from pre-test,post-test and some questions in the questionnaire,aimed at finding answers to the first research questions;while qualitative data is collected from open-ended questions in the questionnaire and it is used to analyze participants’ general view of vocabulary learning software.The results indicate that most of the students in the experimental group have a positive attitude toward vocabulary learning software,and they are willing to use vocabulary learning software as an auxiliary tool to learn vocabulary in spare time.Nevertheless,they point out some disadvantages of the software and give some suggestions.All in all,the method of learning vocabulary by vocabulary learning software is more effective than traditional method and there is a positive connection between the adoption of the software and learning achievement.The research has some implications for senior high school English vocabulary teaching and learning: firstly,teachers could learn from the various learning forms of the software to animate the class and inspire students’ vocabulary learning motivation.Besides,teachers may use situational teaching method to teach English vocabulary and instill the conception of learning anywhere and anytime into students’ minds.Secondly,students can take the method of mobile learning and make fully use of fragmented time to learn vocabulary and combine the adoption of vocabulary learning software with reading materials in English vocabulary learning.