| Attention, an important concept in psychology, refers to the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one thing. It is the bridge between the outside world and the internal cognitive and emotional realm, for it is an important mechanism for information processing through all human cognitive and psychological activities. Attention is the prerequisite for precise observation, good memory, creative imagination and correct reasoning. However, attention is selective and limited in capacity. Conscious control can be carried out over attention. Therefore, attention plays a vital role in learning and behavioral control.Vocabulary is the basic element for language. Research on vocabulary acquisition has always been the focus for all language learners and researchers. In recent years, researchers in second language acquisition have been attaching more and more importance on the study of the actual mechanism for vocabulary acquisition. With the emergence and development of cognitive psychology in 1950s, language learning has been considered as a kind of cognitive activity, while attention is the prerequisite for information processing and storing, and also the essential condition for input turning into intake. Up to now, many scholars have done research on attention and second language acquisition to probe into the cognitive process of language learning theoretically, but empirical studies, especially those conducted on large classes to investigate the role of attention in second language acquisition processes are uncommon. Therefore, the author of this thesis conducted an empirical study of attention strategy promoting vocabulary study from the perspective of cognition, in order to figure out whether enhancing attention in input by raising students'expectation for new words, increasing frequency, enhancing words' perceptual salience, and heightening task demand for word study can facilitate students'vocabulary acquisition.The thesis first introduced the conceptual meaning, characteristics and related study both at home and abroad about attention, and then expounded the relation of attention, second language acquisition and vocabulary learning and teaching. Next, the author gave a detailed description of the research design and methodology. This study adopted quantitative as the major mean to analyze the differences between the experimental class and the control class in vocabulary size and competence, and used qualitative study, such as classroom observation, interview and test paper analysis to help explain the results.This study used New Experiencing English 1 as teaching material, and subjects were 174 freshmen from two natural classes of the Polytechnic Institute, Taiyuan University of Technology. Before experiment, all the students had similar vocabulary size and competence. In the instructional treatment, the experimental class was taught with attention strategy training and the control class in traditional way. The posttest was divided into immediate posttest and delayed posttest. The difference between the two classes was significant in immediate posttests, but not so obvious in delayed posttest. At the end of the semester, the experimental class had obvious progress, but the control class's progress was not significant. The result shows that enhancing attention in input could promote students'vocabulary acquisition from the perspective of holistic competence, and help students form vocabulary learning methods suitable for themselves, but further consolidation and review are also needed for effective long-term memory.Finally, this study was conducted by enhancing attention in input to promote second language vocabulary acquisition through external intervention from the cognitive angle. ESL teachers and students can improve vocabulary teaching and learning through scientific control over students'attention. However, the interaction among attention, memory and second language acquisition needs further exploration.
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