The Application Of Information Processing Mode In Memory Theory To Senior High School English Vocabulary Teaching

As is known to all,vocabulary is of great importance in English language learning.Mastering a great deal of vocabulary is the prerequisite for the basic implementation of listening,speaking,reading and writing.Therefore,the accumulation of vocabulary is fully conducted in the process of English learning,for vocabulary plays such a significant role.However,remembering vocabulary is a tough task for students because of uncountable words against the high vocabulary standard from the English curriculum and unpleasant fact that vocabulary remembered is easily forgotten.Thus,for English teachers,vocabulary teaching is one of the largest problems they meet in English teaching,especially in senior high school.Therefore,vocabulary teaching requires innovation which should be taken to change the hard dilemma that both teachers and students are in.A large number of researches about vocabulary teaching have been reported and many results have already been obtained.However,the study about vocabulary teaching by applying the information processing mode in memory theory,which treats the vocabulary remembering process as the information process by using the retelling,fine processing,coding and rehearsal,etc.,is rare.So this paper tries to further explore information processing mode in memory theory by probing into the following three questions.It is hoped to apply this theory in vocabulary teaching and offer students better vocabulary learning strategies.(1)How does the information processing mode help students obtain more effective vocabulary learning strategies?(2)How does the information processing mode help promote students' interest and confidence in English vocabulary learning?(3)How is students' proficiency in English vocabulary learning promoted with information processing mode?In this paper,two classes,the experimental class(EC)and controlled class(CC),totally 121 Grade One students from Hebi senior high school,were involved in the study.Before the experiment,a questionnaire was conducted in the two classes so as to know the learning strategies they use.A pre-test was conducted to prove the two classes share the similar English level.In the EC,the information processing mode in memory theory,based on the assumption that the essence of human cognition is the whole process of information processing and learning process of English vocabulary is equal to the process of information processing,was introduced,which gave the students a brief theory foundation.The information processing mode was used to teach vocabulary of 4 units from Module One in Beijing normal press and associated words from the lesson quiz,English weekly,three-dimension design exercises book,etc.The traditional way was utilized in the CC.After 18 weeks study,a final test was carried out and the score was recorded.The experiment results were input into Statistical Product and Service Solutions(SPSS)for analysis.The mean score of pre-test in the EC and CC,respectively,is 63.57 and 63.97,which shows no obvious difference.The mean score of the CC improves from 63.97 in pre-test to 73.36 in post-test during the experimental period.For the EC,compared to the pre-test results,the mean score of the post-test elevates from 63.57 to 80.65 and the standard deviation(Std.Deviation)changes from 19.629 to 11.659,which indicates significant progress of the students in English vocabulary proficiency.For the post-test results comparison with the CC,the mean score of the EC is 7.29 higher,showing the EC makes larger progress by using the information processing mode.After the experiment,another questionnaire was applied to the EC in order to find out whether the learning strategy use is improved after one-term training and whether students' interest is promoted.Furthermore,interviews with six students chosen at random in the EC were finished to learn whether their interest and proficiency of vocabulary learning is improved.The questionnaire and interview results proved that with knowing how to obtain comprehensive mastery of words,students have mastered more effective vocabulary learning strategies and learning interest is largely improved with the sense of achievement.In a word,the students become more confident and proficient in vocabulary learning.Six chapters are given in this thesis.Chapter One introduces the research background,significance,questions,methodology as well as the thesis' s structures.Literature review is given in Chapter Two.The information processing mode in memory theory is in Chapter Three.Chapter Four introduces the research design.Data analysis and results are presented in Chapter Five.The last chapter serves as the conclusion.At last,the author puts forward some pedagogical suggestions.It is expected that they are helpful for further studies in the field of vocabulary teaching and learning.