A Study Of The Role Of Lexical Chunks In EFL Writing At The Middle School Level

Linguistic research has revealed that there are a great number of fixed and semi-fixed word combinations in natural language. Quite recently, computer analysis of the English language has also revealed a widespread occurrence of lexical chunks in language use. Lexical chunks are frequently occurred, fixed or semi-fixed multi- words or sentences which are beyond users'current linguistic ability and are acquired as wholes in the process of language acquisition. Moreover, they can be recalled and used automatically as wholes rather than generated from grammatical rules. Michael Lewis once said,"Language consists of grammarticalized lexis, not lexicalized grammar"(Michael Lewis, 1993:89).This paper is an experiment on the employment of lexical chunks in English writing, aiming to further discuss whether lexical chunks approach applies in the English teaching in the middle school or not. English learning has been a big problem for Chinese students, and what kinds of methods or strategies which can improve the efficiency of English learning has been always a hot topic. By reviewing the related literature of"Lexical Chunks"and"English Length Approach"of Professor Wang Chuming, the author has got some hints that teaching Chinese learners EFL writing might be a good way to improve English acquisition. After an experiment with the length of one semester, the students in the experimental class have greatly improved the accuracy of lexical chunks test and composition writing, which proves that lexical chunks can effectively help students improve their abilities of collocating words and writing compositions. The experiment verifies the feasibility of lexical chunks in middle-school English teaching. It can help the students to improve their language fluency and accuracy as well as their comprehensive ability of reading, listening, speaking, and writing. Although some limitations still exist in this study, such as the short period and only a small number of participants, it has yielded some useful findings which are believed to have great implications for later foreign language learning and teaching. For example, some English writing tasks should be arranged in the English teaching and Lexical chunks Approach is applied in the process of writing, in order to effectively improve the second language acquisition ability of the students. This thesis consists of five parts: Introduction, Theoretical Basis of the Study, Application of Lexical Chunks to English Teaching, Methodology and Conclusion.Introduction mainly tells us the background of this study, main ideas of lexical chunks and the structure of this thesis. Chapter two presents the definitions, features, classifications and functions of the lexical chunks, and deals with the applications of lexical chunks to English teaching, including the principles and activities using this approach. Chapter three and four show us the methodology of this study, which includes subjects, procedure, results and discussion. In the part of Conclusion, the advantages of lexical chunks are listed, limitations and implications of this study are commented, and some suggestions are also given for future research.