A Study Of The Application Of Dual Coding Theory To English Vocabulary Instruction In Junior High School

Vocabulary is generally considered as one of the basic elements of language. It is very necessary for communication. In addition, it plays an important part in language learning. The English curriculum standards have set a higher standard for English vocabulary learning in junior high school. The students in junior middle school must learn more words and learn how to use them. However, many students have great difficulty in learning English words, and even feel anxious or worried. Some students entirely rely on textbooks to learn words. Some students have no effective ways to memorize words, and others are also very tormented on how to deal with the words. An effective vocabulary teaching method is one of the important channels to improve students’ English vocabulary learning.This study, based on the Dual Coding Theory(DCT), aims to study and explore how to apply this theory to vocabulary teaching to increase students’ interest in English vocabulary learning and improve their vocabulary level. The purpose of this study is to explore the following aspects:(1) Whether the DCT-based vocabulary teaching method is effective on students’ vocabulary learning?(2) What is the influence of this teaching method on students’ attitudes to vocabulary learning?In order to testify the effect of DCT in English vocabulary teaching, the author made an empirical study. The author selected grade eight students from Zhongyi middle school as the subjects. The author spent more than three months on finishing the experiment in real classroom teaching. In these three months, the students from the experimental class(EC)and the control class(CC) accomplished the same English course but in different ways. During the process of the experiment, the traditional teaching was adopted in the CC, while the vocabulary teaching method based on the DCT was adopted in the EC. In addition, in order to investigate the situation of students’ vocabulary learning, the author carried out the questionnaire, and made pre-test and post-test to check their vocabulary level, and then conducted the interview.The experimental results indicate that the students in the EC have made great improvement, while those in the CC haven’t made obvious improvement. The experiment also proves that images are helpful for learners to memorize words. This new teaching method can mobilize students’ enthusiasm in learning vocabulary, and make the students actively participate in the classroom activities. Hence, students become more interested in vocabulary learning. Therefore, vocabulary teaching based on the DCT has an important influence on students’ vocabulary learning.In conclusion, this study confirmed that the application of the DCT to vocabulary teaching can improve students’ vocabulary learning, but there are still many limitations of this research. The author hopes that more and more researchers will make studies in this field and achieve fruitful results, which can be propitious to the development of the English vocabulary teaching in junior high school.