The Application Of Cultural Context Theory In Normal School English Vocabulary Teaching

Foreign language teaching in China has a long history. With the development of science, technology and globalization in the world, more and more communication across nations is necessary. The requirement for foreign language (English is focused on in this thesis) is higher than before. This thesis probes into some practical methods, with which a systematical and efficient teaching of vocabulary in cultural context would be possible.This thesis discusses the context, cultural context, vocabulary teaching and learning, and also their relationship. Then the author introduces context theory and analyzes some factors affecting culture differences between English and Chinese vocabulary in detail. Many scholars have analyzed teaching vocabulary in context, but due to the limitation of length and time, the author here just concerns about teaching English vocabulary in cultural context. On the basis of the theoretical discussion and the survey of situation of current vocabulary teaching and learning in Qingdao Normal School, the author proposes 3 hypotheses and carries out an experiment to prove them.This thesis is divided into six chapters.Chapter 1 is literature review. The author introduced the context theory and discussed the studies of it by scholars home and abroad. Then the history of vocabulary teaching home and abroad was mainly demonstrated from the angel of several main teaching approaches.Chapter 2 is the theoretical framework, which includes the cultural context theory, the content of cultural context and the functions. Then the author explained the culturally-loaded words and their classification.In chapter 3, in order to investigate the current situation of vocabulary teaching and learning in normal school, and the attitude of the teachers and students under investigation, all of the English teachers and 165 students in Grade one were given questionnaires and a test paper. From the data collected the author analyzed the problems in current vocabulary teaching and learning in cultural context. Thus the result gave the author the cause to do the experiment which is discussed in chapter four.The first part in chapter four is the description of the experiment, in which 165 students are divided into experimental classes and control classes. Some suggested measures are taken in the experimental class. The steps are discussed in chapter four. After about 17 weeks, the same 165 students are given another test paper to finish. 83 students in the experimental classes do a similar questionnaire.In chapter 5, the author analyzes the data collected and compares them with the ones collected before the experiment. From the data analysis, it is proved that teaching English vocabulary in cultural context can improve efficiency in the comprehension and application of new words and arouse the students'interest in vocabulary learning. The experiment has a positive influence on developing the students'vocabulary learning strategies. To some degree, the integration of cultural context and vocabulary teaching can cultivate the students'cross-cultural awareness.According to the theoretical discussion and the results from the experiment, in chapter six, the author gives some suggestion for further vocabulary teaching and learning. She thinks that teachers should take the main lead. Then the author gave more details to demonstrate her idea in this part. As the instructor, the interpreter and the participant of the class, teachers should take more training in culture knowledge, teaching methods and learn to take full advantage of the authentic materials and keep pace with the development of the world. In the author's opinion, vocabulary teaching and learning in cultural context should be systematical according to the contents. Meanwhile, students should be active in learning culture and the culturally-loaded words automatically.