The Impact Of Different Vocabulary Learning Modes On Junior Middle School Students' Breadth Of English Vocabulary

In 2003, the Standard of English Curriculum in junior middle school issued by the Ministry of Education published a set of requirements for junior middle school students who are required to master around 800 words and 200 phrases and expressions; what's more, 400-500 more reception words should be recognized. From the above, it is not difficult to arrive at a conclusion that this requirement is reasonable because after three years English learning, the junior middle school students only need master about 1500 words besides the words they have learned in primary school. However, the reality is that the shortage of vocabulary is also one of the obstacles for junior middle school students in English learning, which is not satisfying. Nowadays, the instructions for the English teachers in Middle school are based on the task-based teaching mode which lays emphasis on functional and communicative dimensions of language. Under this instruction, the words are expected to be learned in the context. However, the fact is that the students whose vocabulary is below 800 can not guess the meaning of the words successfully. So it is impossible for the new learners to learn the words by reading. As we all know, English learning at junior stage plays an important part in the improvement of English learning. So it is an urgent task to study the English vocabulary learning modes in junior middle school.In order to find out which way is more efficient for the low-level learners in English vocabulary learning, this thesis will adopt Craik & Lackhart's theory of"the depth of processing theory"and Schmidt's"The Noticing Hypothesis"from the cognitive perspective to support the experiment. This thesis attempts to explore the following problems: 1) Can the words be learned only through indirect learning modes by average students in junior middle school? If yes, how effective? 2) Is the direct vocabulary learning mode more effective than the indirect one in the aspect of quality and quantity of the words for the new learners? 3) In general, which method is the most efficient one in learning English vocabulary for junior middle school students? In order to answer the above questions, an experiment is designed and carried out in a training school of Taian, with the subjects all coming from three average classes in Grade Two. In the experiment, three different vocabulary learning modes are adopted, that is direct learning mode, indirect learning mode and the combination one which means learning by direct one with indirect mode complementary. The results of the experiment are the following ones: 1) The words can be learned by using the indirect learning mode by the average junior middle school students, but it is the least efficient. 2) As for junior middle school students, the traditional learning mode—direct one is better than indirect one in most aspects. 3) The effect of learning words by the combination method is the most efficient one for the ordinary junior middle school students which is confirmed in the two delayed tests.The findings indicate that the selection of the vocabulary learning modes and the usage of the learning strategies in teaching should pay much attention to the language level of subjects as well as the learning environment. As a fundamental stage in English learning, the junior schools play a very vital role in English learning. For students, especially the low-leveled ones, mastering a certain amount of words is a must in learning English well. For the purpose of helping junior middle school students who have only known less than 800 English words to enlarge the breadth of vocabulary, the combination of the direct and indirect vocabulary learning mode is a good choice.