Hungarian Learning And Its Implications For Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition

Vocabulary acquisition is vital to any language acquisition process. As Wilkins (1972:9-10) said, "Without grammar, little can be conveyed;without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed." However, only for the last two decades, more and more researchers have come to realize that total language proficiency consists of more than grammatical competence, and vocabulary knowledge is an indispensible part of language proficiency.However, although researchers have paid more attention to it than before, the studies on foreign language vocabulary acquisition are still comparatively few. And in China, English vocabulary acquisition is also a problem for Chinese learners. The researches on what are the reasons for Chinese learners'problems of communicative proficiency, how could Chinese learners enlarge their vocabulary, and so on are also few.This thesis, based on the support of previous theories and studies, tries to find out the key factors which may influence vocabulary learning, and aims to be helpful to foreign language vocabulary acquisition, thus promotes foreign language learning so as to meet the needs and requirements of modern society. All in all, the present study hopes that it could provide implications and suggestions in foreign language vocabulary acquisition and future researches.The current study consists of two parts. The part of observation is conducted in a real Hungarian class for foreigners in Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest. The other part is questionnaire. The 69 subjects of the study, ranging from 17 to 33 in age, are all non-Hungarian speakers from different countries:China, Canada, the United States, Mexico and so on. Their occupations, purposes and length of Hungarian learning are also varied. But they share one thing in common that they are immersed in the same language environment. All of the participants were informed by their teachers that all of the questions and choices in this questionnaire should be answered and chosen forthrightly. After the questionnaires are finished, all the answers and choices were collected and categorized.Based on the data and results presented in the research, the major findings can be summarized as follows:1. When there are strong and practical motivations, the learner tends to work harder on vocabulary learning and acquisition. 2. Immediate question and test are still effective ways to check how well the learner masters vocabulary.3. "Direct correction" is to be preferred when the learner makes mistakes in real communication.4. Although the answers given are different when the subjects are asked about the "impressive words", we can find that these words share something in common that they are the most frequently used words in daily life or the subjects are personally interested in.5. When learning a foreign language in its environment, all the component elements of the surrounding environment, such as culture, manners and customs, native speakers, even geography and climate, have become favorable factors in vocabulary acquisition.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One gives a brief introduction to the study, describing its research background, purpose and significance, and the whole structure of this thesis. Chapter Two makes a general review of relevant theories and previous researches, on which this thesis is based and being supported. Chapter Three focuses on research methodology. In this chapter, the research questions will be listed, and then the relevant information, such as the subjects, the instruments, and the way data are collected and analyzed will be dealt with. Chapter Four reports the results of the study and discusses the findings that have yielded answers to the research questions. Chapter Five summarizes the major findings of the present study, discusses the implications that can be inferred from the findings, delineates the limitations of this study, and offers suggestions for future study.