A Study On Effectiveness Of Lexical Chunk Approach In English Major Vocabulary Teaching

Vocabulary is essential for English learners in general and English majors in particular.With a solid foundation of vocabulary,they can further their language study effectively.There are detailed requirements for vocabulary teaching in Teaching Syllabus of English Majors.In the actual classroom,however,vocabulary teaching has often been neglected by teachers and most of the vocabulary is taught in courses as an accessory.This study aims to explore whether Lexical Chunk Approach can promote vocabulary teaching for English majors of tertiary level and how the learners perceive this approach.Sixty-four English-major freshmen of an east China university participated in this study.They were divided into experiment class(E Class)and control class(C Class).During the ten-week empirical study,Lexical Chunk Approach was applied in vocabulary teaching in E class,while C class followed traditional way of vocabulary teaching.Pre-and post-experiment tests were organized to compare the teaching effects of the two approaches.In addition,pre-and post-questionnaires and a semi-structured interview were also arranged to elicit students' attitudes towards the two approaches.Both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted to analyze the collected data.Results have revealed:1)Lexical Chunk Approach is more effective than traditional vocabulary teaching method and thus can promote students' language learning;2)Lexical Chunk Approach can also help promote students' interest and confidence in vocabulary learning.