The Cognitive Researches Of Lexical Chunks And Their Teaching

Some researches show, the major problem of vocabulary teaching and learning is its retrieval and use. These researches are quite suggestive for language pedagogy. The paper is mainly to explore the phenomenon that vocabulary is used in the authentic language environment, the most common form of vocabulary in the authentic language situation is lexical chunk. Lexical chunks refer to pre-assembled and frequently used multi-word combinations in a language. The purpose of the thesis is to explore the integration of lexical chunks which are learned as an ensemble and used in specific contexts. The use of lexical chunks has been rejected in past debates, however, cognitive research provides evidences to support the use of lexical chunks. The paper examines lexical chunks and its role from the perspective of processing. Specifically, the writer expresses the need for theoretical and cognitive frameworks from which to analyze lexical chunks. The paper illustrates theoretical frameworks through L1 and L2 acquisition, nativelike selection & nativelike fluency, phraseological expressions and so on; illustrates cognitive framework by exploring relevant psychology and cognition theories.For pedagogical application, the paper proposes several benefits of focus on lexical chunks in the classroom from promoting motivation,facilitating abstraction of grammar and the ease of processing burden. Specially, the writer explores learners' listening comprehension problems on-line processing, then analyzes these problems based on Anderson's cognitive framework of language comprehension. The paper proposes some suggestions to some extent for solving these listening comprehension problems by utilizing lexical chunks, strongly advocating the lexical approach in teaching foreign language, especially for teaching listening comprehension.Finally, the writer points out that the research of lexical chunks will be greatly beneficial, not only for teaching, but for learning language. There are lots of potentials for applying lexical chunks to pedagogical application, especially for ESP (English for specific purposes).