| The lexical chunk approach in language teaching is based on such belief that the backbone of language learning and communication are not grammar, functions, notions, or some other units of planning teaching but lexis, that is, words and word combinations. The application of lexical chunk approach in language teaching reflects a phenomenon that lexicon has become a central part in language structure, second language learning and language use. Particularly, multiword lexical units or “chunks” are learned and used as single items when English reading discourse is analyzed.This study investigates the influence of the lexical chunk approach to senior high school students’ ability of English reading. In addition, the lexical chunk approach provides a new idea for English reading teaching in senior high schools. It can avoid the disadvantages that the traditional English reading teaching approach brings about. The main purpose of the author to do such a research is to prove that the lexical chunk approach can improve senior high school students’ English reading ability, such as the ability of reading accuracy and reading speed.The experiment is implemented in Hohhot No. 9 High School. The experimental subjects are 120 students from two parallel classes of senior two. Class 3 is randomly designated as experimental class(EC) while Class 4 is designated as control class(CC). There are 60 participants in each class. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the experimental results,the EC class and CC class are both taught by the same teacher and the author attends the classes with the students as an observer. The experiment lasts for four months.There are three main research hypotheses:(1) What is the current situation of English reading teaching in senior high schools?(2) Will the lexical chunk approach be beneficial to improving senior high school students’ English reading ability?(3) Will the lexical chunk approach stimulate senior high school students’ interest in English reading? In order to answer above three questions, both quantitative research and qualitative research are used. Before the teaching experiment, a questionnaire research is conducted in both the experimental class and the control class. Then a statistic analysis is done for the results of the questionnaire. Through careful analysis and contrast, after considerable thinking, the author finds that most of senior high school students think that their English teacher should improve their teaching method. Because in English teaching class, teachers often neglect the relationship between words and reading materials, students don’t pay much attention to the knowledge of lexical chunks. In order to answer the second question, a teaching experiment is conducted. At the beginning of the new semester, a pretest is conducted. Then SPSS 21.0 is used to analyze the results of the pretest. The analysis result shows that there is no significant difference between the two classes. That is to say, the English reading ability of the students in two classes are similar. Then the teacher gives lessons to the experimental class(Class 3) by lexical chunk approach while the control class(Class 4) is taught by the traditional reading teaching approach. After a semester’s training, a posttest is performed. Then SPSS 21.0 is used to analyze the results of the posttest. The analysis result shows that the English reading ability of the students in two classes have significant difference. The English reading ability of the students in experimental class has obvious improvement compared with the control class. So it comes to the conclusion that the lexical chunk approach is beneficial to improving senior high school students’ English reading ability. After finishing the teaching experiment, an interview is done in the experimental class. The analysis result of the interview shows that the lexical chunk approach can stimulate senior high school students’ interest in English reading. |
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