A Study On Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School Based On Schema Theory

Vocabulary learning is one of the most fundamental aspects of second languagelearning. Although most second language learners are aware of the significance ofvocabulary learning, it is still an annoying problem for the learners, for it is difficult forthem to remember numerous new words, especially to maintain a long-term memory.Moreover, because of the difference of the culture and context, it is also difficult for thelearners to master the usage of the words.Following the advancement of the schema theory in1932by F. Bartlett, fruitfulresearches were carried out by a number of scholars, such as D. Rumelhart (1980) and P.Carrell (1983), focusing, in particular, on the application of the theory to readingcomprehension.Some results of researches have showed that the schema theory has a positive effecton reading, understanding and listening in second language learning. But researches onhow to apply schema theory into vocabulary teaching and learning are limited, so it isnecessary for us to have a thorough understanding of the schema theory. This researchfocused on the application of the schema theory to the vocabulary learning in classes ofGrade One in No.1Senior High School of Chaoyang County, Liaoning Province. Thestudy proposed the following research questions:Will schema-based teaching method improve students’ attitude to vocabularylearning?Will schema-based teaching method improve students’ vocabulary long-termmemory effect?Will schema-based teaching method develop students’ vocabulary competence?Both the control group and the experiment group were respectively given thevocabulary competence tests, memory tests and questionnaire surveys. The collected dataand results were quantitatively analyzed by SPSS11.5. It could be concluded from theresults that schema-based teaching method can surely develop students’ vocabularycompetence, and after the schema-based vocabulary teaching training, students showed amore positive attitude to vocabulary learning, and they would like to take part in Englishclass; students who received the new teaching method did a better job in long-termvocabulary memorization than those who did not receive the new teaching method;students’ vocabulary competence was also developed after the training of the schema-basedmethod. Therefore, the application of schema-based vocabulary teaching method to Grade One of senior high school is rather effective and feasible.