On The Application Of Guessing In Vocabulary Learning And Teaching

Words are language itself. But words have always been obstacles to foreign language learners. How can rules and characteristics of cognition facilitate vocabulary learning and promote students' lexical aptitude? This is a problem that all the foreign language teachers are facing now. From the point of view of cognitive linguistics, this thesis aims to make an exploration in pedagogic application by presenting a teaching method ---the guessing method to vocabulary teaching.Starting from the definition of guessing, the thesis demonstrates the concept and nature of guessing by comparing it with relative issues in cognitive psychology, philosophy, second language acquisition and teaching approaches. Relevance Theory holds that understanding is a process of raising assumptions about the speaker's intention. This process of guessing can be seen as a basic way of thinking in verbal understanding and language learning, and thus guessing can be used to promote vocabulary learning. This has been well accepted as avocabulary learning strategy-----guessing words in context. This thesisstudies how words can be guessed in context in vocabulary learning in the light of prototype theory, constructional grammar, conceptual metaphor, iconicity, cognitive models and cultural models. On the basis of this study, the thesis proposes that, in vocabulary teaching, students should be encouraged and guided to use guessing strategies, and it also suggests teaching principles, procedures and strategies for the guessing method in a strategy-based setting.The thesis holds that, in vocabulary learning, as sound, form, meaning and usage of a word are different aspects of a concept structure and they are motivations to each other, guessing should be made according to these related aspects. The problem of polysemy can be solved by grasping the prototypical meaning, for prototype is the cognitive reference point of categorization and the foremost and easiest concept for people to grasp. On the basis of the prototypical meaning, other meanings of a word can be guessed through metaphorical thinking—the powerful cognitive tool. Guessing should be guided by suggestive clues in strategy-based settings, beginning with a typical context which is designed to present the prototypical meaning of a word.In this thesis, sound, form, meaning and usage of a word are taken as an integrate unit and motivations for each other in guessing and vocabulary learning, which accords with cognitive rules and benefits word remembering and learning efficiency raising. The guessing method on such bases is a practical research on student-centered instruction as well as a trial of application of cognitive linguistics. It emphasizes the students' role as subjects of learning, the teacher's role as a guider, and the cultivation of students' abilities. It will offer a framework and foundation for empirical and experimental researches.The thesis originates in extending the strategies of guessing word meaning to guessing the sound, spelling, meaning and usage of a word. And by combining guessing with typical contexts, the thesis presents a vocabulary teaching method favorable to students as subjects of learning.