Effects Of Different Vocabulary Presentation Modes On Vocabulary Retention By Senior School Students

Vocabulary is one of the most significant elements in a language. Vocabulary teaching is of great importance to English teaching in China. Therefore, the study on how to present English vocabulary efficiently is practical. Based on the context theory and depth of processing theory, this thesis aimed to investigate the different effects of vocabulary retention by adopting three different presentation modes (the presentation through a word list, the presentation through context with the meanings of target words, and the presentation through context with the meanings of target words after guessing) under intentional learning condition.In the study, 150 students from three classes in Grade 1 and 150 students from three classes in Grade 3 in Zibo No. 7 Middle School were chosen as subjects. The subjects'high school entrance examination scores and normal high school graduation examination scores were analyzed to ensure that there was no significant different between their English level. Each group adopted a different presentation mode. One hour after each presentation, a short-term memory test was carried out. Along-term memory test was administered one week later. The interview and questionnaire data was also collected to confirm the results of the tests. After marking and scoring all the test papers, the data was analyzed on computer utilizing SPSS 13.0 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).Three kinds of statistics analyses were involved: the Descriptive Statistics, One-way ANOVA, and the Paired-Samples T test. Comparing the effects on learning outcomes within and between groups,we found that:(1) In the short-term memory tests of both Grade 1 and Grade 3, the mean vocabulary retention amount by using the presentation mode 1 was the most, the one by using presentation mode 2 was a little less, and that by using presentation mode 3 was the least. However, in the multiple comparisons of the short-term memory tests, there weren't significant differences between the three groups.(2) In the long-term memory tests, the mean vocabulary retention amount increased progressively: the vocabulary retention amount when utilizing presentation mode 1 was the least, the one when adopting presentation mode 3 was the most and that by using presentation mode 2 lied in the middle. In the comparisons of the long-term memory tests by grade 1, there were significant differences between group 1 and group 2 as well as between group1 and group 3. In the comparisons of the long-term memory tests by grade 3, there were significant differences between these three groups. This meant that in the long-term memory test presentation mode 3 was the best on vocabulary learning and retention effect and Mode 2 was better than Mode 1.(3)A significant difference existed between every two tests by using each of the three vocabulary presentation modes, that is to say, the vocabulary learning and retention effects of the short-term memory tests were significantly better than those of the long-term memory tests, which represented the natural memory-fading phenomenon of human beings. However, the degrees of the memory fading by using the three presentation modes varied, and they had different memory-fading tendencies: the memory-fading degree by using Presentation Mode 1 was the greatest among the three, the one by using Presentation Mode 3 was the least and the degree of memory fading when using Presentation Mode 2 lied between them.Supported by the major findings, relevant analyses and discussions, the implications of the present research are manifold:Learning words in isolated lists should be avoided in foreign language teaching and learning. Learners should learn words in context. English teachers should consciously introduce the Depth of Processing Theory to explore effective presentation modes in the process of vocabulary teaching.