| Vocabulary learning plays an important role in language learning, and it is thefoundation of various language learning activities. With the development of systematicresearch on vocabulary acquisition, vocabulary teaching draws SLA researchers’ attention,but the study on the breadth and depth knowledge of vocabulary remains to be conducted.Plentiful studies from the perspective of native speaker or SLA learner have been conductedabroad and at home. These studies mainly focus on the description, classification,effectiveness of specific strategy, theoretical framework and factors affecting strategy use,etc. However, the study based on the theory of levels of categorization in cognitivelinguistics and from the perspective of teachers is relatively scant.Keeping the problem of insufficiency on vocabulary breadth and depth in mind, tworesearch questions were specifically designed:(1) Based on the theory of levels ofcategorization, what kinds of teaching strategies may improve learners’ vocabulary breadthand depth and construct their semantic network?(2) Are these teaching strategies effective inimproving college English learners’ vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge?According to the theory of levels of categorization and with the help of vocabularylearning strategies, learners’ vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge can be significantlyfacilitated and lexical semantic network can be constructed through using the strategies ofdeep processing, including word formation, word association, word collocation, semanticparadigma and semantic segmentation.Meanwhile, empirical study was employed in this study, in the purpose of testifying theeffectiveness of these strategies. Regarding the quantitative study, Vocabulary Level Test(VLT) and Word Associates Test (WAT) were conducted with the participation of120non-English sophomores from Shandong Agricultural University. These strategies proposedabove were integrated into teaching process, and instruction model were designed. Onesemester later, participants received the post-test again. Data for the study were collected byusing scales. With the help of SPSS17.0, descriptive statistics, paired samples T test, one wayANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis were computed with the target samples. The results of descriptive statistics demonstrate that the post-test scores showed anincreasing tendency, compared with the pre-test; the results of paired samples T-testpresented that post-test scores showed significantly higher than pre-test scores; the results ofone way ANOVA indicated that whether using strategies or not will affect the scoressignificantly; the results of Person correlation showed that the scores of VLT and WAT inthe same stage positively correlated. All these findings pointed out that after using strategies,learners’ vocabulary scores have greatly increased. That is to say, these vocabulary teachingstrategies based on levels of categorization are effective and can improve learners’vocabulary breadth and depth knowledge.This thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter one introduces the researchbackground, research purpose, research significance, and the structure of the thesis.Chapter two reviews the relevant literature concerning theory, characteristics of levelsof categorization, and the definition, classification of vocabulary learning strategies. Besides,the previous related studies of levels of categorization-based English vocabulary teaching athome and abroad are briefly introduced.Chapter three proposes and describes the vocabulary teaching strategies according tolevels of categorization.Chapter four elaborates on the empirical research. Attention is focused on researchdesign, including teaching model, research questions, participants, instruments, proceduresfor data-collection and data analysis. Meanwhile, results and discussion are presented in thispart.Chapter five summarizes the major findings of the study. Then implications forvocabulary learning and teaching are proposed. Finally, limitations and suggestions for futurestudy are given. |
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