A Study Of Applying Semantic Network To English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

As for language learners, having a good command of vocabulary is of greatimportance, however, the greatest difficulty in foreign language study lies in how tolearn and master vocabulary. Semantic network, proposed by American psychologistR.Quillian in1968, can be used to represent knowledge through interconnectedelements. Vocabulary learning is the connection of previous knowledge to newknowledge. Applying the semantic network to vocabulary teaching can present thedynamic and networked development of vocabulary and increase students’ interest invocabulary learning. However, few studies adopted this method and fewer studiesfocused on vocabulary teaching in senior high schools. The present study focuses onapplying the semantic network to the senior high school English vocabulary teaching,and explore whether constructing semantic network can improve senior high schoolstudents’ vocabulary learning, and whether this method can increase students’ interestin vocabulary learning.The subjects were112students in Beizhen No.3Senior High School; they werefrom two parallel classes in Grade Two, and one was experimental group who weretaught through semantic network, while the other was control group who were taughtin the traditional way. Tests and questionnaire were the instruments adopted in thepresent study. The data from the tests and questionnaire were analyzed by thesoftware SPSS17.0.The research findings show that constructing semantic network ina text can improve high school students’ vocabulary learning, as well as their interest in vocabulary learning. Several pedagogical implications and suggestions areproposed in the end.