An Empirical Study On English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior One Based On Conceptual Metaphor Theory

Vocabulary,as one of the three elements of language,is the prerequisite for language learners to use language proficiently.Their vocabulary level directly affects their other language skills such as listening,speaking,reading and writing.Therefore,in order to improve their own foreign language ability,students must first improve their vocabulary level and vocabulary learning ability.However,there are still some problems in vocabulary teaching in senior high school English classes in China.Teachers only impart the spelling,pronunciation,meaning and collocation of words into students mechanically while teaching words.They do not associate the shallow meaning with the deep meaning of words,resulting in students memorizing vocabularies only by rote.On the one hand,it can eliminate students’ enthusiasm for English learning;on the other hand,it can reduce students’ fluency in the process of language output.Conceptual metaphor,as a way of thinking and cognitive means,can be used everywhere in people’s daily life,which can help people understand the unknown through known concepts.In recent years,some foreign scholars have gradually realized the guiding role of conceptual metaphor in vocabulary teaching.Through a large number of experimental investigations and data analyses,it is theoretically proved that conceptual metaphor can improve learners’ vocabulary competence,and some teachers and linguists have applied conceptual metaphor to vocabulary teaching.In China,a large number of scholars have studied the relationship between conceptual metaphor and vocabulary teaching,too.Based on the theory of conceptual metaphor and the theory of previous studies,this thesis makes a further analysis and understanding of conceptual metaphor and links this concept with English vocabulary teaching.Taking the English textbook Module 1 of Oxford Senior High School of Yilin Press as an example,this thesis puts forward specific teaching steps and carries out a four-month teaching experiment in Class 1 of Grade 1 of the Lishui District Second Senior High School of Nanjing.The basic hypothesis of this experiment is that the integration of conceptual metaphor into senior high school English vocabulary teaching can improve students’ vocabulary learning ability and level,and stimulate students’ interest in learning.Based on this hypothesis,the author raised the following two research questions:(1)How can the vocabulary teaching method based on conceptual metaphor facilitate senior one students’ English vocabulary learning?(2)How can English teachers apply this vocabulary teaching method to practical teaching?The data of this study are mainly from questionnaires,interviews and pretest and post-test.Through questionnaires,students’ attitudes towards the different vocabulary teaching methods before and after the experiment can be understood.Interviews at different stages of teaching experiments are arranged to learn students’ mastery of the new teaching method in different stages,and accordingly the teaching plans were constantly adjusted for the next stage.And the results of the pretest and post-test can reflect students’ vocabulary level and metaphorical thinking ability before and after the experiment.After qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data,the conclusion basically confirms the hypothesis that the English vocabulary teaching method based on conceptual metaphor can improve senior one students’ vocabulary learning ability.The study finds that the improvement of students’ English vocabulary level is reflected in different aspects,including polysemy,collocation and the utilization of preposition.At the same time,the author also puts forward a specific teaching method that applies the conceptual metaphor to English vocabulary teaching in the course of the experiment,and proves the feasibility of this teaching method through data analysis.