| Context theory was first put forward by Malinowski,a polish anthropologist in 1920s.It is divided into three categories:linguistic context,situational context and cultural context.Linguistic context is subdivided into lexical context,grammatical context and verbal context.Vocabulary teaching based on context theory means that words are taught with the application of integrated context clues so that they are used appropriately in different situations and students can master effective learning strategies of vocabulary learning.It is well known that vocabulary is the basic component of the language.The new English curriculum standard(2011)proposes higher requirements and attaches great importance to vocabulary teaching:(1)Understand English vocabulary such as words,phrases,expressions and collocations.(2)Understand and distinguish word meaning in different situations.(3)Use vocabulary to describe things,behavior and characteristics,explain principles and so on.(4)Learn and use 1500-1600 words,200-300 expressions and collocations.Therefore,it is significant to teach vocabulary based on context theory in junior high school empirically.Second Language Acquisition(also SLA)is the process by which people learn a language other than a native tongue in a natural or tutored way.According to constructivism,constructivists believe that students are the center in the process of learning and teaching and learning is constructive.Based on constructivism,this thesis aims to investigate the present condition of junior high school English vocabulary teaching and verify the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary in context theory in junior high school.It attempts to answer the following three questions:(1)What are the major problems existing in junior high school English vocabulary teaching at present?(2)How can context theory influence junior high school students' vocabulary learning?(3)In what ways can context theory be applied effectively into junior high school English vocabulary teaching?This study was conducted in Xi'an Tieyi Binhe High School for four months during the first semester of 2016.98 Students in Class 2 and Class 7,Grade Seven participated in the experiment.There are 49 students in each class.Class 2,as the experiment class received vocabulary teaching based on context theory,while Class 7,as the control class received the traditional vocabulary teaching method.Questionnaires,tests and interview were employed for the study.The data collected was analyzed by means of SPSS 17.0.The research results reveal that:(1)Teachers' inappropriate vocabulary teaching methods,lack of the awareness of new English curriculum standard,and students'inappropriate vocabulary learning methods,low interest in vocabulary learning and bad vocabulary learning habits are main problems.(2)Teaching vocabulary in context theory can arouse students' interest,help students memorize words easier and use words appropriately,and significantly improve students' test scores finally.(3)Multiple methods and approaches based on context theory and various activities make vocabulary teaching efficient and meaningful in junior high school with the application of context theory.In the study,there also exist some limitations including the limited research time,small scope,and the limited research materials.Meanwhile,some suggestions are given for the further study of teaching vocabulary in context theory in junior high school.There are five parts altogether in this thesis.The first part is the introduction of this thesis.The second part focuses on the literature review.The third part is about the research design and the detailed procedure.The fourth part is the discussion and analysis of results of the experiment.The last part is the conclusion.Major findings of the thesis are presented first.Some limitations are discussed and suggestions are also pointed out for further research. |
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