A Study Of English Vocabulary Teaching Strategies In Senior Middle School

Vocabulary teaching has for long been a widely discussed topic in the field ELT. Since English was taught as a second language in China, vocabulary teaching has been regarded as the most important but the hardest and least-efficient area of ELT. The main reason for this is that vocabulary had not been given its due attention for a long time and only traditional vocabulary teaching methods had been used. The new English Curriculum Standards of Senior High School requires larger vocabulary and students'knowing how to use vocabulary appropriately. In the teacher-preparation programs today, although more attention has been paid to techniques for teaching vocabulary, the results have still not been entirely satisfactory. In many ESL classes, where teachers have devoted much time to vocabulary teaching, the results are disappointing. And it is very common for lots of students in senior middle schools not to master enough English vocabulary for adequate language communication, which has given rise to difficulties in listening, speaking, writing and reading English. Effective vocabulary teaching is very important in English teaching, especially in senior middle schools.For several decades, many experts have expressed concerns for vocabulary teaching. Although they have done plenty of research on vocabulary acquisition, their essays are taken up mostly by excessively abstract theory. These articles are valuable enough for doing research on vocabulary, but they are not practical for English teachers in senior middle schools to refer to when teaching it. I have got down to this research since September, 2006, when I took charge of two classes of Grade One students. Through a detailed analysis of recent years'National College Entrance Examination papers and a research of three years on 150 senior middle school students on their vocabulary learning, this paper is devoted to analyzing the reasons for the poor efficiency in vocabulary teaching in the western area of China, discussing the practical and efficient vocabulary teaching strategies and exemplifying practical techniques and methods. These techniques and methods have proved efficient during these years of teaching, and they might also be useful for other English teachers to try out in their vocabulary teaching.