The Application Of Lexical Chunks To English Teaching At Senior High School

Vocabulary is a very important component in language learning. The importance of vocabulary teaching has already been fully recognized by teachers of senior high schools. However, vocabulary teaching is constantly faced with an embarrassing situation in which teachers and students'hard work does not lead to satisfactory achievements. Some students just have a small vocabulary. Although some others may have a large vocabulary, when they try to communicate in writing or speaking, the misuse of vocabulary has become a serious obstacle to successful communication. This paper, focusing on the teaching of chunks, has offered a new way of solving such problems.Recently the lexical approach has drawn increasing attention from scholars and experts in language teaching. Michael Lewis points out that chunks are the focus of languages teaching and language use as well for they help accelerate the speed of language processing, facilitate L2 acquisition, and develop learners'language output.The lexical approach concentrates on developing learners'proficiency with lexis or words and words combinations, which refers to the ability to grasp fixed phrases, collocations and sentence patterns that are frequently used in communication; therefore, it integrates the cultivation of vocabulary, grammar learning and communication competence. Based on the theory of prefabricated chunks, this paper aims to explore the effectiveness of applying lexical chunks to the practice of EFL teaching in senior high schools.This paper first introduces the research background, the theoretical foundations, and the relevant studies home and abroad. It also offers a detailed analysis on the definition and classification of chunks, the advantages of applying chunks to classroom situations, and the methods and principles of teaching and understanding chunks. Experiments are also designed to prove the effectiveness of using chunks in EFL teaching. Data analysis has showed that the lexical approach does improve learners'ability of English learning. It can promote the fluency and accuracy of language use, thus developing students'linguistic competence comprehensively.