A Study On The Application Of The Context Theory To Vocabulary Teaching In Junior Middle School

Vocabulary teaching is an important aspect of language teaching.The English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education(2022)(hereinafter referred to as the English Curriculum Standards)requires students to understand English vocabulary,including words,phrases,idioms and fixed collocations,and the basic meaning of words and their meanings in specific contexts.However,most teachers still use the traditional way of vocabulary teaching,which makes students lose interest in learning vocabulary.By sorting out the literature,we know that context-based vocabulary teaching not only improves the efficiency of students’ vocabulary memory,but also arouses students’ enthusiasm for vocabulary learning.This study takes context theory as the theoretical basis,uses classroom observation,interview and case analysis methods,aiming to explore the application of context-based vocabulary teaching in junior high school,and tries to answer the following three questions:(1)What are the characteristics of context-based vocabulary teaching in junior high school?(2)What are the teachers’ understanding and attitudes towards context theory?(3)What should teachers consider when designing the context?The author observed 30 classes for 2 months and selected 9 teachers from Nanning No.17 Middle School as the subjects.A total of 236 context-based vocabulary teaching cases were collected.To avoid repetition,the author selected 26 cases for analysis.The research data showed that:(1)The characteristics of context-based vocabulary teaching are as follows: First,the proportion of lexical context is high,while the proportion of verbal context and cultural context is low;Second,the verbal context increases with the grade,while the situational context decreases with the grade;Third,teachers seldom create situational dialogues for students to use vocabulary in situational context.(2)Teachers hold a positive attitude towards context theory,but they have little knowledge of context theory.(3)When designing the context,teachers should consider the diversity and authenticity of the context,and the language foundation of students.Based on the findings of this study,the author proposes some teaching suggestions for middle school English teachers,hoping that they will pay more attention to applying the context theory to vocabulary teaching.At the same time,this study aims to provide middle school English teachers with new ideas for designing context-based vocabulary teaching in order to stimulate students’ interest in vocabulary learning and improve the efficiency of students’ vocabulary memory.