A Research On Vocabulary Expansion Teaching In Junior Middle School Based On Project-Based Learning

Vocabulary expansion is a way of vocabulary learning in which students expand other related words according to a subject word,including both meaning and grammar.Project-Based Learning(PBL)is a learning way to carry out learning activities around a specific learning task,namely project,which can improve students’ learning efficiency,interest in learning,cooperative learning ability and problem-solving ability.The application of PBL in vocabulary development teaching conforms to the requirements of English Curriculum Standards of Compulsory Education(2017)for junior middle school students’ vocabulary learning.At present,compared with foreign countries,PBL in China started late.Empirical research on PBL focuses on science and technology.Research in the field of English teaching is more common in universities and vocational colleges and less explored in the field of junior middle school vocabulary teaching.Based on the Constructivism learning theory,Dewey’s pragmatism education theory and Bruner’s discovery learning theory,this research aims to help students to improve vocabulary expansion ability by using PBL.This research intends to answer the following two questions: 1)Can PBL effectively improve students’ vocabulary development ability? If so,in what aspects? 2)By using PBL in vocabulary teaching,are there any differences in the performance of students of different English levels?and if so,in what aspects?In this study,Changzhou X Middle School is taken as the research field,and 50 junior middle school students,from a class in Grade one,are selected to carry out PBL experiments.The data collection methods mainly include experimental method and interview method.The results show: 1)PBL plays an positive effect on thepromoting of junior middle students’ vocabulary expansion ability,especially on numbers of vocabulary expanded and vocabulary association ability;and 2)The influence of PBL on the vocabulary expansion ability of students at different English levels is different,high-level students achieve the most,followed by intermediate-level students and low-level students.Based on the findings of the study,three suggestions are proposed: 1)Teachers should be familiar with Project-Based Learning and apply it to vocabulary teaching as a normal teaching method;2)Students should pay attention to applying the PBL method to the existing learning content;and 3)Schools should provide platform support for the development and promotion of PBL.