Empirical Study On L2Vocabulary Acquisition Based On Frame Semantics

It is a beneficial attempt that the productions from cognitive linguistics should be applied to the practice of L2acquisition and teaching. Currently, many theories from cognitive linguistics have already been adopted into the study of L2acquisition. But scholors pay little attention to the effect of frame semantics on L2vocabulary acquisition, let alone the empirical study in this field.Proposed by Fillmore. frame semantics offers us a different approach to understand and describe the lexical meaning. Following the theories from frame semantics, the precondition of understanding the lexical meaning involves knowing the semantic frame of the target word, the interrelation of the core elements within the frame and the compatible scenes at which the word can be used. The main problem of L2vocabulary acquisition is related to acquiring the meaning of the target word, its usage and relation with other words, which provide us motivity to conduct the study on L2vocabulary acquisition based on frame semantics.The paper is based upon an empirical study among the non-English majors from a local university, aiming to investigate the effect of the vocabulary learning method based on frame semantics on English vocabulary acquisition for Chinese learners. Since learners are different in the English proficiency level, which is indicated in the pre-test,279participants have been divided into two groups and taken part in the learning of the target words respectively. By comparing the difference of participants in acquiring the new words with various vocabulary learning methods in the immediate test as well as in the delayed test, the paper tries to verify whether there is a positive effect of the vocabulary learning method based on frame semantics on acquiring English words for Chinese learners. The statistical techniques used for analyzing are descriptive statistics, independent samples T test and paired samples T test. With the interpretation of the quantitative results, the paper generates the following conclusions:(1) Compared with the traditional vocabulary learning method, the method based on frame semantics can facilitate Chinese learners to acquire English words more effectively.(2) The effectiveness of the vocabulary learning method based on frame semantics is embodied in the two dimensions of vocabulary acquisition, which involve the receptive knowledge as well as the productive knowledge.(3) The positive effect of the vocabulary learning method based on frame semantics on Chinese learners’ English vocabulary acquisition is more obvious for those with lower English proficiency level.(4) The vocabulary knowledge gained with the learning method based on frame semantics lasts longer than that gained with the traditional method in the main.Based on the above findings, some pedagogical implications can be made as following: Firstly, English teachers can introduce and employ the new method based on frame semantics for vocabulary learning while teaching English words. Secondly, when teaching vocabulary with the learning method based on frame semantics, learners’English proficiency should be taken into consideration. What’s more, teachers should spare no effort to help learners have the right attitude towards learning, activate their motivation of learning and draw their attention to the learning contents besides conducting teaching.