An Experimental Research Of Unit Integrated English Teaching In Junior Middle School English Vocabulary Teaching

Vocabulary is fundamental to learning English and crucial to improving the listening,speaking,reading,writing and translating abilities.However,many junior middle school students have problems in acquiring English vocabulary,such as long time consuming and low efficiency.Consequently,many scholars have studied the reasons why students can’t master the vocabulary well.Among the causes,the monotonous method of vocabulary teaching is an important one.In vocabulary teaching,teachers focus on pronunciation,spelling and the meaning of vocabularies,and they often deviate from the context when introducing vocabulary and their usage,resulting in the lack of coherence,integrity and hierarchy of vocabulary learning.While some scholars have examined unit integrated teaching and vocabulary instruction,there are few researches combining the two.Therefore,it is necessary to incorporate unit integrated English teaching in vocabulary instruction for junior middle schools students.Given the existing challenges in vocabulary teaching,this research adopts the concept of unit integrated English teaching.By situating vocabulary instruction within the context of the entire unit,this study examines how students can effectively grasp the vocabulary learning strategies.Specifically,this research aims to answer the following three questions:(1)What’s the current situation of vocabulary learning for the middle school students in experiment?(2)How does the unit integrated English teaching improve their ability of vocabulary learning?(3)How does the unit integrated English teaching improve their attitude to vocabulary learning?In this research,two Grade 9 classes at a middle school in Shanxi province were chosen as the experimental class and the control class.Over a period of 16 weeks,the experimental class underwent a unit-integrated English teaching experiment,while the control class received traditional vocabulary instruction.Data were collected through classroom observation,vocabulary tests,questionnaires,and interviews.The results indicate that the unit-integrated approach to vocabulary instruction can improve students’ vocabulary learning ability,increase their interest in vocabulary learning,and enhance their attitude to vocabulary acquisition.