A Prototype Theory-based Study Of Efficient Ways Of Polysemous Words Learning

Polysemous words learning, especially the figurative senses learning, has always been the main problem encountered in our English language learning. Bensoussan &Laufer(1984) have discovered that students make the most mistakes in guessing the polysemous words when reading. The incidental learning method has been advocated since the 1980 s. It encourages students to guess the meaning from context. However,according to the empirical research of Mondria(1991), it proves not to be so effective to guess meaning from the context. In consistent with Mondria’s idea, complexity of polysemy makes it more difficult in guessing meaning from the context.(Verspoor &Lowie, 2003) In recent years, many researchers(e.g., Langacker, 2000) have analyzed cognitive process of language learning from the cognitive linguistic perspective,which has created a new vision for polysemous words learning.Based on the prototype theory of Cognitive linguistics and previous empirical studies, this research explores an efficient learning strategy and meaning extension mechanism of polysemous words. Questionnaire surveys and two tests are conducted in the empirical study. Three questions are needed to explore.1) Compared with providing a non-core sense or figurative sense and guessing explicitly senses from the context, does providing a core sense improve the guessing scores and yield highest guessing efficiency ?2) In the three conditions, such as the core sense as cue, non-core sense as cure and no cue condition, which one will lead to a best long term retention of the unfamiliar polysemous words?3) Does any correlation exist between guessing and memorizing of the figurative sense in different conditions?Ninety second-grade senior high school students from a county are chosen as the participants. They are divided into three groups according to experimental conditions.Each group consists of 30 students. Group 1 is provided with a rich context. Group 2and group 3 is offered a simple context with different cues, core cues and non-core cues respectively. The data in the questionnaire and tests are analyzed via SPSS 17.0.The findings present the most common used cognitive strategies by high school students in a sequence: Literal meaning memorizing > Context guessing > Rote >Inference. It is also the basis of test designs. And the results of the whole study are as follows:1) Compared to providing a non-core sense or figurative sense and guessing explicitly senses from the context, providing a core sense can improve the guessing scores and yield highest guessing efficiency.2) In the three conditions, such as the core sense as cue, non-core sense as cue and no cue condition, which one will lead to a best long-term retention of the unfamiliar polysemous words?3) There exists a correlation between guessing and memorizing of the figurative sense in different conditions, but the correlation is really low.The above results demonstrate there exist meaningful connections between core senses and other figurative senses. It will be beneficial to improve students’ guessing ability in the context and keep the long-term retention for a long time. Thus, during the process of teaching and learning, it is vital to cultivate the learner’s imaginative ability, the metaphorical and metonymical consciousness. Besides, mastering the core sense of a polysemous word is the priority. Meanwhile, core sense should be presented at first by the text book compilers.In this research, the limited number of subjects and the insignificant differences of their guessing ability may affect the generalizability of this study. Although there are some inadequacies needing to be addressed in future research, the study produces some implications for the polysemous words learning, memorizing and improving students’ guessing abilities and imaginative consciousness.