A Survey Study Of The Use Of The Lexical Approach By Senior Middle School EFL Instructors

Lewis, in his book, The Lexical Approach, claims that lexis includes not only individual words (vocabulary), but also lexical chunks. Lexis, in its various types, should play a central role in language teaching and learning. The lexical approach in English teaching has attracted much attention of educators and researchers. Many researches have been conducted and got outstanding achievements. However, existing literature shows that most of these researches focus on students and the effectiveness of improving students’communicative ability and language proficiency. Few researches are found from the perspective of teachers, and scarcely to probe into the problems in the implementation of the lexical approach.Faced with such background, this study was designed to survey the use of the lexical approach by senior middle school EFL instructors, with a particular purpose to discover problems teachers confront during the implementation of the approach. The ultimate goal was to help teachers make full use of the approach in their teaching activities and improve the effectiveness of teaching. Therefore, this thesis tries to answer the three questions:(1) What is the current situation of the application of the lexical approach in middle school English teaching?(2) What are the existing problems during the implementation of lexical approach in middle school English teaching?(3) What are the reasons that are responsible for these problems?The theoretical framework adopted in this study is based on connectionism and constructivism. Two research designs are employed in this study, quantitative and qualitative designs. For quantitative part, a questionnaire is designed, which is based on the main principles of the lexical approach and covers five dimensions:language content, language skills, teaching principles, teaching methods and grammar errors. Participants are52English teachers from three senior middle schools at different levels.52valid questionnaires are collected and processed by SPSS17.0. For qualitative part, interviews are made to collect information to analyze the reasons that bring about those problems. Three teachers who apply the lexical approach at a relatively low level are chosen to take the interviews.The data and information are analyzed and generated the following results:Firstly, in senior middle schools, the lexical approach has been applied by a majority of the teachers, but half of them are at an average level to implement the approach. In the questionnaire. the lexical approach is divided into5dimensions, and general situation of the application of the five dimensions is concluded as follows:1) Language content. Teachers have realized that lexis are the base of language teaching, but have a vague understanding of the relation between lexis and grammar.2) Language skills. As to language input, teachers’choice is contrary to what the lexical approach requires.3) Teaching principles. A majority of the teachers hold a favorable and positive attitude towards these principles. Over half of them have recognized the significance of context.4) Teaching methods. Observe-Hypothesis-Experiment model is seldom applied in teaching activities.5) Grammar errors. Teachers ignore that lexis contributes to grammar improving.Secondly, analyses and results by digging deep in the average-level group reveal specific problems.1) Teachers ignore that certain grammar rules exist in lexical chunks, and treat language as a mechanical combination of lexis and grammar, ignoring that chunks are prefabricated and have a close connection with context.2) Reading materials are offered as main access to chunks rather than listening materials. One key principle of the lexical approach claims that listening should be the main access to language. However, teachers provide much more materials in written form, which mainly contributes to improving reading ability.3) Teachers ignore that self-learning is of great significance to help improve students’learning effectiveness, and have little faith in their students’ability of self-learning. They underestimate the function of Observe-Hypothesis-Experiment model, and hold a reluctant attitude towards it in their teaching activities.4) Teachers are not fully aware of the importance of lexical chunks which help students master grammar. They tend to give explicit explanation, not to provide ways to consolidate students’mastering of lexical chunks.Thirdly, results from interviews reveal the reasons of these problems:1) Vocabulary/grammar dichotomy has a great influence on teachers. Teachers see vocabulary and grammar as two independent components. Therefore, such dichotomy will be an obstacle to effective application of the lexical approach.2) Examinations, especially NCEE (National College Entrance Examination), are designed mainly to evaluate reading ability. Teaching syllabus also emphasizes on the improvement of reading ability. Under such requirements, teachers have to choose reading materials as main means of teaching chunks.3) Teachers think explicit explanation will achieve better teaching effectiveness than students’self-studying.4) In teachers’opinion, L1transfer and vague understanding of grammar are main causes of grammar errors. Therefore, during the procedure of correcting, teachers don’t take measures to consolidate chunks, but provide students with much explicit explanation and continuous grammar exercises.Some implications yielded from this study are as follows:From the perspective of the educational administrations, they should provide more guidance and training for teachers to improve their theoretical level and teaching ability. From the perspective of evaluating system, examinations should be designed to cover all four skills of language, and designers should try to keep balance between them. From the perspective of teachers, teachers should help students develop the ability of self-learning, and have faith in them that they have had enough knowledge to learn by themselves.