A Study Of Teaching English Vocabulary In Context In Junior School

Vocabulary is basic to language learning. There is a long history in the studies of vocabulary teaching and learning abroad. Since 1920s, researchers have taken consideration into how context works in language learning and teaching. Compared with study abroad, the period of study is shorter. In recent years, Chinese researchers and teachers have taken an increasing interest in vocabulary learning and teaching in context.Vocabulary comes in two forms: oral and written. Oral vocabulary includes those words that people recognize and use in listening and speaking. Print vocabulary includes those words that people recognize and use in reading and writing. Context is defined as: 1) what comes before and after a word, phrase, statement, etc helping to fix the meaning; 2) circumstances in which an event occurs. Context can be divided into many types; the paper will talk about two types of context: linguistic context and non-linguistic context. Linguistic context refers to the linguistic setting in which a specific meaning of a word occurs in communication. Non-linguistic context refers to the non-linguistic background with which linguistic communication associates. There are two types of non-linguistic context: situational context and cultural context. Situational context consists of background knowledge. In the cultural context, a word, or an utterance or a speech event also has influence on meaning.The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of teaching vocabulary in context on both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension for junior students. Teaching in vocabulary is divided into two parts. The experiment was conducted in which vocabulary was taught in context in the experimental class, whereas traditional way of vocabulary memorization was used in the control class.The hypothesis is if the contextual vocabulary teaching method is used, students'vocabulary learning will be improved.Before the experiment, a questionnaire was used to learn about the general situation of students in the experimental class and the control class. During the experiment, monthly-exam papers were used as pre-test to compare the level of students in their vocabulary learning. Then the experiment was conducted. After eight-week experiment, mid-exam papers were used as post-test. The types of exercises and difficulties in monthly -exam papers and mid-exam papers are similar. Then the data was processed and analyzed with the software SPSS 15. It can be seen from the data that the mean of monthly-exam papers in control class and experimental class that there is few difference between the two classes, and it shows that the students in two classes have the same proficiency in English. After the experiment the mean of mid-papers in experimental class and in control class is changed.According to the description of software SPSS 15, the difference of the two exams of control class is insignificant; the difference of the two exams of experimental class is significant, the data can prove the hypothesis is right. It is concluded that the application of teaching vocabulary in context is effective. This method can not only raise students'interest in learning vocabulary, but also enlarge their vocabulary. At the same time the experiment can improve teachers'teaching level.Of course, because the experience of experimentalist is limited, the period of experiment is short, and the subjects of experiment have some subjective factors, so there are some disadvantages and shortcomings in the experiment.