A Study On Expanding English Vocabulary Size Through Reading In Junior Middle Schools

Reading and vocabulary learning have long been my interest of study in my middle school English teaching career. It is known that vocabulary is a key and important part to junior middle school English learning. Vocabulary and reading are closely related, with the former being the basis of the latter."Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed."That is to say, vocabulary learning is the most important part of English learning.Many effective ways can be applied in vocabulary learning, and learning vocabulary through reading is one of them. Learners need to use this strategy according to their own individual situations. So how do learners expand vocabulary through reading That is, how do they combine reading with vocabulary learning successfully This paper is a tentative study of English vocabulary learning through reading. The author wants to prove that learning vocabulary through reading is a very effective way to improve English learning.Of course, there are many factors that influence vocabulary learning through reading and there are also some limitations to it. But we need to be sure that vocabulary is important for learning a language and reading is an efficient method of enlarging learners'vocabulary. Every English learner can simply have a body of vocabulary as long as he wishes and works hard at it. The author hopes that this thesis can arouse more junior middle school English teachers'interest in the study of vocabulary learning through reading and that more and better reading materials for English learners at different levels will be prepared so that students will feel it enjoyable to learn vocabulary and then the overall efficiency of English language learning and teaching will be improved in junior middle schools.This thesis reports an experimental study on expanding English vocabulary through reading comprehension in junior middle schools. In order to determine how reading comprehension affects the expanding of vocabulary size and how strategies affect vocabulary learning and the retention rate, the author conducted an experiment in two classes of Grade Four in a junior middle school.The purposes of the experiment are (1) to compare the two kinds of teaching methods: the traditional vocabulary learning method and the vocabulary learning strategy through reading; (2) to verify that there is a significant correlation between English vocabulary size and English reading comprehension; (3) to prove that proper use of vocabulary learning strategies can help learners improve their vocabulary learning and their retention rate.The experiment used pre-test and post-test measures to compare the difference in vocabulary size between the controlled group and the experimental group. From the analysis of the experiment, it was found out that after four months'experimental teaching and learning, there is a statistical difference between the mean scores of the students in vocabulary size between the controlled group and the experimental group, and that there is a significant improvement of student performance in the experimental group. The result of the post-test has shown that effective vocabulary teaching and learning strategies in the reading class are helpful for students to memorize words, enhance their vocabulary learning abilities and enlarge their vocabulary.Here are some implications after the research:1. The properties of the subjects'English vocabulary and their role in their linguistic performance determine that English vocabulary teaching is a vital aspect in TEFL.2. English vocabulary plays a prominently important role in linguistic performance of English, especially in reading comprehension part. Learning English vocabulary is the process not only for teachers to teach but also for students to learn.3. The teachers should pay attention to the relationship between vocabulary learning and reading comprehension and select the reading materials carefully, which can attract the students and help them enlarge their vocabulary size effectively. Only on the basis of the students'interest and willingness can the teaching and learning process be a successful one.In a word, vocabulary teaching and learning can be an ongoing lifelong process. Therefore, there is a long way in the research and exploration of vocabulary teaching and learning in reading class. Many questions about vocabulary teaching and learning deserve more attention and further research.