A Tentative Study Of Conditions For Lexical Chunk Approach In China High Schools And Scale Of Vocabulary Knowledge

This paper makes an attempt to explore the conditions of applying the theory of lexical chunks to vocabulary instruction in senior high schools in China in the hope of finding a more effective approach for teaching and learning English vocabulary for Chinese high school students. Though, as a data-driven research, the present study employs both the qualitative and quantitative approaches in carrying out an empirical research on the high school students' language proficiency change while applying the lexical chunks theory into English instruction. In addition, detailed discussions and analysis are conducted, in the hope of making some contributions to theory construction in vocabulary acquisition.Words are assumed to be the core of a language, and therefore, the lexical chunks are considered to be the perfect model for language instruction and acquisition due to the features and performance of lexical chunks. With so many privileges, it is presumed that students will surely achieve a remarkable progress through an enhanced learning of lexical chunks. An empirical research is done to testify this assumption.The results of the experiment are surprisingly against the expectation. The author has attempted to explain the three potential causes.On the basis of the empirical results and its relevant analysis of the causes, the author first suggests that students should deal with different levels of words in different ways: some words need to be learnt deeply, and others only require superficial learning; then the author illustrates the relationship between lexical chunks and some basic English skills; finally, she offers some suggestions for further research and in this respect.