| English vocabulary is the basis of English language.A good mastery of vocabulary is the precondition for students to develop listening,speaking,reading and writing.However,problems existing in vocabulary learning,like low efficiency of vocabulary learning and high frequency forgetting rate have troubled a large quantity of English learners.According to the New English Curriculum Standard issued in 2011,junior high school students should master 1500 to 1600 English words and 200 to 300 idioms and collocations.Most of junior three students spend lots of time memorizing vocabulary,only to find that it is easier to forget than memorize.As a consequence of vocabulary shortage,many students lose their interests in learning English.Besides,arranged in alphabetical order or according to units,there are few logical connections between each words and expressions listed in our English textbooks,which causes difficulties for students to memorize words in a short time and even leads to mental disorders of word memory for some students.The concept of the mind map was put forward by a well-known English psychologist and educator Tony Buzan in the 1960s.As a knowledge visualization tool,it is capable of mobilizing the left brain and the right brain in charge of logical thinking and imaginary thinking respectively.It can turn disorganized and vague memory into a clear,organized and impressive thinking.Junior three students have to master all the words learned in junior high school stage before the Senior High School Entrance Examination.Faced with fierce examination competitions,some students have little idea on how to memorize such a large amount of words in a limited time.The revision for the Senior High School Entrance Examination is a comprehensive and logical task.If all the vocabulary in junior high school stage can be classified and organized in the form of mind maps and then represented to students,it will help students improve vocabulary learning efficiency,enhance their interests in learning and cultivate their learning strategies.To verify the effectiveness of mind maps in vocabulary revision,this research was conducted with two research questions.Firstly,what are the effects of the application of mind maps in English vocabulary revision?Secondly,how can the application of mind maps in English vocabulary revision help students improve vocabulary learning?The author conducted the research between two parallel classes of Shen Zhen Guang Ming New District Senior High School.In the three-month experimental period,the experimental class was taught by the application of mind maps,while students of the controlled class were asked to review words by themselves.The author collected data of tests,questionnaires and interviews,and drew the conclusions from analysis of data.The experiment proved that the application of mind maps in vocabulary revision can promote students' memorization and mastery of vocabulary and has a positive effect on student' vocabulary learning habits and learning strategies. |
PDF Full Text Request