Application Of Dual Coding Theory To Vocabulary Teaching In Junior Middle School

The concept of "Dual Coding Theory" was first put forward in 1990s. Overseas scholars pay attention to first language reading, yet few of them conduct reaches on foreign language reading, and even fewer put their energies on foreign language vocabulary teaching. Under the guidance of the Dual Coding Theory, Arlin, Scott and Webster made a test about vocabulary learning process. They devided the testees into three groups: the first group was provided with words and relative pictures, the second group was provided with words and pronunciations, the third group was provided with only words. The result of this test indicates that the testees in the first group learnt the words much quicker than other groups. At home, there are some scholars who introduce Dual Coding Theory. Some experts did an empirical research on DCT in foreign language vocabulary acquisition. Few people pay attention to junior high school vocabulary teaching. The author of the present paper decided to make an attempt by means of the DCT to find an effective way to improve vocabulary learning in junior middle schools.This thesis first reviews Dual Coding Theory and two separate coding systems of mental representation. At the same time, the author points out the significance of memory in vocabulary learning. And then, the author wants to find some problems of vocabulary learning by a questionnaire. Finally, the author experimentizes some students in Shiqiao Junior Middle School in Hubei province to validate the effect of DCT in junior high school English vocabulary teaching.New Standard of English Teaching is taken into account in the process of experimental teaching.The author records two achievements of two groups of testees. The conclusion is that DCT is helpful for EFL learners in vocabulary learning and improves the effect of long-time memory.Thus, the hypothesis is approved.