The Application Of Multi-modal Discourse Analysis To Junior Middle School English Vocabulary Teaching

Vocabulary is critical to language learning since listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation capabilities are all based on basic vocabulary. Apart from that, it also determines one’s language proficiency.The lack of vocabulary and the ability to use vocabulary will direct affect one’s comprehensive linguistic competence. Current situation is that there is few specialized vocabulary teaching in English classroom, Teaching focus always falls on the grammar and the four basic skills training.The research lasts for three months; the subjects are students in Grade 7 in No.66 Middle School. The teaching experiment began in September 2014, C lass A is the experimental class, and C lass B is the control class. Both of these two classes use the same textbook, "Go for it". Experimental class teaching is guided by multi- modal discourse analysis theory, while the control class still uses the traditional vocabulary teaching. Before the experiment, a questionnaire survey is used to understand the attitude of students to learn English as well as whether the teachers adopt the multi- modal teaching mode in the teaching process.At the end of the experiment, vocabulary tests are supplied to students to test the mastery of the cognition and usage of the target words.All data collected from the teaching experiment are analyzed by SPSS to compare the teaching effects of two vocabulary teaching model on the mastery of the cognition and usage of the target words. Finally, a questionnaire survey and interviews are used to explore the students’ attitude to the two vocabulary teaching mode.The results show that multi- modal vocabulary is helpful for improving students’ scores on vocabulary. In terms of stimulating student interest, focusing the attention of students, improving students’ participation in classroom, helping students understand and remember vocabulary, the multi- modal vocabulary teaching takes large advantage, superior to traditional teaching. However, there are a small amount of the students still prefer the traditional vocabulary teaching model, they think the teachers ’ writing on the blackboard in the classroom has clear layer, and can help them take notes and after-school review, dictation activity helps them spell words more accurately.