An Empirical Study On English Grammar Teaching At Senior High School Based On Iconicity Theory

It is acknowledged that grammar is one of the three indispensable elements of language. However, in recent years, the English teaching reform in our senior high schools is proposed to emphasize on the vocabulary teaching and to improve the traditional models. Some teachers misconceive the original intention of this recommendation and ignore the grammar teaching excessively. These elements result in the weakness of the present learners’ grammatical foundation and affect their improvement in the ability of reading, writing and translating. Therefore, it is necessary to reflect and reform the current situation of English grammar teaching. Contrary to arbitrariness, iconicity refers to the natural relationship between the signifier and the signified of language sign. With the rising of cognitive linguistic, the domestic and international studies of iconicity develop prosperously and extend constantly. Most domestic researches are limited at theoretical levels and the empirical studies mostly concentrated on the application of iconicity in the lexical teaching. This thesis aims to apply iconicity theory in the English grammar teaching of senior high school and test its practicability to improve the grammar teaching effectiveness in senior high school.80students are chosen from two classes of Senior One in the No.2Senior High School in Panjin as the subjects of this16weeks’experiment. Either of the experimental and the control class has40subjects separately. All the subjects share the same teaching materials, teaching period, testing contents and are taught by the same teacher. The instruction in iconicity theory is only presented in the experimental class. During the research, the data of four tests including pre-test, two period tests and post-test is collected and analyzed by SPSS16.0with the methods of independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test. In the end of the experiment, an interview is conducted to investigate the practicability of iconicity from the qualitative perspective. The findings of pre-test shows there is no significant difference of the two groups’ grammar levels. The analysis of two period tests demonstrates a stable improvement of the experimental class. After the post-test in the end of the experiment, the grammar levels of the two classes finally show significant difference to some extent.To sum up, both the quantitative and the qualitative research prove that iconicity plays a positive role in the English grammar teaching in senior high school. But it is still a little complex and abstract to be accepted by all the subjects of this level. Meanwhile, a more efficient application of iconicity requires a higher quality of the teachers with abundant professional knowledge background.