The Application Of Constructivism Theory In English Vocabulary Teaching And Learning In Junior High School

As the instrument of communication, language involves three parts: grammar,pronunciation and vocabulary. Vocabulary is very important to language, as bricks are importantto a building. It is one of the three essential parts that language. If learners don’t build up avocabulary, they will not be able to understand English well and talk fluently in communication.As a result, vocabulary learning is also one of the most important components in learningEnglish. According to the Standard of English Curriculum formulated by the Ministry ofEducation, Students in junior high school need to have a vocabulary of2000words aftergraduation. It is not easy for many junior high school students to finish the vocabulary size.Thus, we need to try to explore some effective learning strategies to help students learn Englishvocabulary. Constructivism approaches are nothing new to pedagogy in general. It is often usedin a lot of fields.Therefore, if we use constructivism to help students to learn vocabulary, it isprobably effective. The thesis tries to find the answers to the following questions.1. Isconstructivism good for vocabulary teaching and learning?2. How do teachers help studentslearn vocabulary according to constructivism?The thesis makes an analysis of constructivist theory. The author first reviews thehistory of Constructivism. On the constructivist view of knowledge, knowledge is not passivelyreceived but built up by the cognizing subject. Scientific knowledge is the same as theknowledge in other areas (like, humanities, sociology etc). Because all the knowledge are builtby societies and individuals. In scientific knowledge there are characteristics like subjectivityand contingency. According to the constructivist view of learning, learning is the activeconstruction based on the prior knowledge. Constructivists believe that learners don’t learn newknowledge with empty minds. In fact, in their everyday life and all kinds of styles of study, theyhave constructed related experiential knowledge. Every learner has his own ideas for the newknowledge. On the constructivist view of teaching, since the students are not the passiverecipients of knowledge, the teacher cannot pass on the knowledge.The thesis reviews the researches on vocabulary learning strategies in China. A number ofChinese researchers have made contributions to the exploration of English vocabulary learning. However, what they have done are either summaries or their teaching and learning experienceor introductions (including translation work) of the related theories explored by Westernresearchers in this field. There are very few empirical studies involved, especially about middleschools. In the experiment the auther choose106students from two naturally occurring classesof Junior Two in Qingdao No.39Middle School. For CG, Based on the traditional vocabularyteaching idea, the general method of presenting new words is translation. For EG, the autheradopted constructivism vocabulary learning theory to help the students to master the new wordsbetter.For example,“grouping” people might divide words into several groups unconsciously.Research indicates that if students organize the words based on the categories, they willremember them more easily. Keyword method, we construct the strong association between thekeyword and the target word. In this way, students can think of the keyword seeing the targetword. It combines the meaning and the phonological forms of the words. Guessing from context.Students can find the part of speech of the word first. The unknown word is considered as thecenter. Look at the immediate context. If the word is still not clear, look at the wider context.And then try to guess the meaning. At last, check if the meaning is right. Constant review, oftena number of learners think their bad retention leads to the failure of vocabulary. As a result, theyare often angry at the bad memory. In fact, this isn’t the result of bad memory. That’s because oftheir improper reviewing plan. For students, what they should do is to schedule timely recalls inorder to get slower forgetting and better memory.Through conducting an experiment including tests and questionnaires, the author provesthe effectiveness of the teaching and learning strategies according to constructivism. Teachersshouldn’t put stress on procedural knowledge during the process of vocabulary learning. Fixedmode of the lessons should be avoided. Teachers should adopt different kinds of methods tohelp students be more interested in vocabulary learning. And when they have some difficultyand can’t deal with them by themselves or with the help of partners, teachers can help them orlead them to a right direction. The author argues that teachers should improve teaching methodsand provide students with the effective vocabulary learning strategies based on constructivismin order to achieve the goal of a better vocabulary acquisition.