An Empirical Study On The Application Of Situational Teaching Method To English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High Schools

This thesis aims to conduct an empirical study on the application of situational teaching method to English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.With the in-depth development of situational teaching method,more and more linguists have recognized the importance of this teaching method in English vocabulary teaching.However,out of the influence of the exam-oriented education,English teachers intend to require students to directly memorize the meanings or usages of vocabulary and there is a lack of authentic teaching situations in vocabulary classroom.For English learners,it is necessary to use language situations with the characteristics of limited semantics.Situation restricts one’s understanding of words,and the specific connotation of vocabulary will also change according to different situations.Nonetheless,the previous research mainly focused on the principles and methods of the situational teaching of vocabulary,while there are few empirical studies on the application of situational teaching method to English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.This thesis intends to apply the situational teaching method to English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools with the purpose of studying what effects the method has on students’ interest in vocabulary learning,memory of vocabulary and its application competence,which is based on the specific teaching practice.Based on the Situated Cognition Theory and the ConstructivistTheory,the author will find out the answers to the following three questions:(1)What are the effects of situational teaching method on senior high school students’ interest in vocabulary learning?(2)What are the effects of situational teaching method on senior high school students’ memory of vocabulary?(3)What are the effects of situational teaching method on senior high school students’ vocabulary competence? With the aim of answering the above questions,the author selected two classes at random to conduct a teaching experiment in a senior high school in Changsha,namely the control class and the experimental class.The translation teaching method that is common in vocabulary teaching was adopted in the control class,while the situational teaching method was employed in the experimental class to carry out English vocabulary teaching.During the period of this three-month teaching experiment,the author tested the two classes by using questionnaires and vocabulary tests,and made an analysis of the experimental data through the Reliability Analysis,the Factor Analysis,the Independent Sample T Test and the Paired Sample T Test of SPSS 21.0.The research findings of this thesis are as follows: First,the vocabulary teaching based on the situational teaching method has a positive effect on students’ interest in vocabulary learning.After the experiment,students were satisfied with this teaching method,and they also became more interested in English vocabulary learning.Second,the vocabulary teaching based on the situational teaching method has a positive effect on students’ memory of vocabulary,especially theirlong-term memory of vocabulary.As to the effect on their short-term memory of vocabulary,it is insignificant.It can be seen from the outcome of the delayed post-test that the experimental class students’ scores don’t have significant difference compared with that of the immediate post-test.Third,the vocabulary teaching based on the situational teaching method has a positive effect on students’ vocabulary competence.From the result of post-test,students’ scores have been increased significantly.This study shows that students’ interest in vocabulary learning and their memory of vocabulary can be effectively improved,and their vocabulary competence can also be facilitated under the situational teaching method in English vocabulary teaching.Hence,English teachers should apply the situational teaching method to English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.However,because of the author’s personal restrictions of relevant theoretical knowledge and some other objective factors,there are still some limitations in this study such as short experiment time and small sample size,etc.In the follow-up research,the experiment time can be properly extended and the sample size can be reasonably expanded.In spite of that,the author still hopes this research can provide some guidance for English teachers in applying this situational teaching method to improving English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.