The Prototype Category Theory In The Application Of The University English Four Levels Of Vocabulary Teaching

College English Test Band4(CET-4) which is a National education examination is organizedby the Department of Higher Education. The purpose of the examination is making objective andaccurate measurement to college students’ English ability. And as a national and large examination,it can both measure the performance of a student and the strength of a school, so the passing rateof this examination is one of the standards which cannot be neglected. Considering the importanceof this examination, more and more English teachers combine English teaching with theexamination. For a long time, the simplest and the most direct way to measure a learner’s Englishlevel is by his vocabulary. What’s more, if you want to pass CET-4, you must achieve a certainvocabulary. That is why vocabulary teaching is an important part in college English teaching, andenlarge students’ vocabulary effectively also become the duty of foreign language teachers. But atthe same time, it is very difficult to master a large vocabulary, and it is an important problem inthe process of English learning. More and more scholars and researchers realized and dedicated tosolve this problem, many new vocabulary teaching methods are applied to English vocabularyteaching practice. Including vocabulary teaching methods based on context, frame semantics andsome related cognitive linguistics theories. The foundation of this paper is prototype categorytheory which is an important theory in cognitive linguistics. The aim of this paper is to introduce anew perspective and methods for CET-4English vocabulary teaching, and some specific researchideas are put forward: firstly bring the cognitive concept of prototype category theory into theteaching process of English vocabulary; secondly, the author elaborate an English vocabularyteaching experiment based on the prototype category theory, then put forward some teachingprinciples and vocabulary teaching frameworks which are suitable for the prototype categorytheory; finally specific cases are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of vocabulary teachingunder the guide of the prototype category theory.So first the author makes a questionnaire for100sophomore students to investigate thepresent situation of their vocabulary learing, and the results are analyzed and discussed. Then avocabulary teaching experiment is made under the theory of prototype category theory, one classuses the new method and the other class uses regular teaching methods. After the contrast of asemester, the author analyses the result through SPSS11.0, and prove the feasibility andeffectiveness of this method.Under the guidance of Prototype Theory, English vocabulary teaching will become moremeaningful than traditional teaching method. Students’ interest in vocabulary learning and Englishlearning can be improved. The classroom atmosphere can also be promoted. These all play a verysignificant role to improve the quality of teaching. Therefore, this method has the value of further research and promotion.