Contextualization And English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

Context is important in English vocabulary learning and multi-level theories of contextualized vocabulary teaching provide the theoretical basis for vocabulary teaching and learning. However, pragmatic studies in this aspect is far from enough in China and contextualized vocabulary teaching and learning is often neglected in senior high school English classroom.This paper aims to introduce contextualized vocabulary teaching and learning into senior high school English classroom.Guided by the theories of context and vocabulary teaching, the paper first reviews the previous researches at home and abroad. On the basis of these previous studies, a one-semester experiment on vocabulary teaching is carried out among the two contrast classes of Senior One:one, as the experimental class, and the other, as the controlled class. In the experimental class, the contextual theory is applied to the whole process of vocabulary teaching, including presentation, practice and consolidation of the word learning, while in the controlled class, the traditional teaching is employed as the norm. Owing to the time limitation and feasibility in class, the contextualized vocabulary teaching is limited to the following three levels:vocabulary context, grammar context and situational context.In the experiment, two English vocabulary tests and two comprehensive English tests are conducted before and after experiment and the data are statistically analyzed. The results of the experiment show that contextualized vocabulary teaching cultivates students' memory and cognitive strategies, stirs up students' learning interest and improves vocabulary learning efficiency, as the scores of the experimental class are higher than those of the controlled class. Finally, some suggestions are made about contextualized English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.