Lexical Chunks And Second Language Vocabulary Learning

The significance of vocabulary is self-evident in learning a language. The number of vocabulary a language learner masters will determine the language proficiency he will reach. Learning a word consists of getting to know its pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and more importantly, its usage. Most Chinese language learners can do well in understanding and memorizing the English words; however, they have some difficulty in using them accurately. Some researchers have conducted experiments to indicate that 90% of our language usage is semi-fixed chunks. As a result, lexical chunks occupy a position of paramount importance in vocabulary learning.This thesis intends to explore how lexical chunks help language leaners learn words from the aspect of connectionism, and it analyzes the correlation between language learners'lexical chunk ability and their language proficiency in an empirical way, with the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to provide some practical evidence for related theoretical studies.The subjects in the survey consist of thirty-four sophomore English majors in Sichuan International Studies University. The research instruments include one test, with the aim to test the students'chunk competence, one questionnaire to investigate into the subjects'strategies and beliefs in lexical chunk learning, and interviews with one subject.The test was implemented in class. The questionnaires were handed out to the testees immediately after they finished the chunk competence test. All the data collected was put into the computer for statistic analysis. The software employed to process the data was the SPSS 13.0.After the analysis, the following findings are concluded:1. There is a positive correlation between the test scores and the confidence scores, which indicates that English learners do have a consciousness in lexical chunks. The better the learners make use of lexical chunks, the higher level of language proficiency they can get.2. The higher the chunk test score is, the higher the writing score is. It indicates that there is a possible relationship between the chunk ability and the ability to use language creatively.3. The correlation of the chunk test scores and the results obtained from the questionnaire is significant. An advanced language learner tends to have sound learning strategies to help him with chunk learning, and a sound chunk learning strategy will also do good to chunk learning.Based on these findings, some suggestions are made to help language learners with vocabulary learning, and some possible exercises are proposed in the last chapter.