The Application Of Semantic Field Theory To English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

Vocabulary teaching is an essential part of English teaching in senior high schools,and vocabulary learning also plays a crucial role in English learning.At present,although high school teachers gradually realize the importance of vocabulary teaching,due to the lack of effective guidance of teaching theories and methods,there are still some problems in vocabulary teaching,such as dull teaching method,unsatisfactory teaching results,ambiguous teaching objectives and so on.Besides,most teachers ignore the semantic relationship among words in vocabulary teaching.How to teach words effectively to promote students' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge is a crucial problem.Semantic field,also called lexical field or domain,refers to the combination of a group of words that interact,dominate,distinguish and depend on with each other.In this method,the related words and expressions are organized and the relationships among words will be revealed.Therefore,it will be a beneficial attempt to use teaching method based on semantic field theory for vocabulary instruction at senior high schools.This study aims to explore the effect of vocabulary teaching method based on semantic field theory on the students' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.Based on semantic field theory,the study discusses the following three questions by means of pre-tests,post-tests and a questionnaire:(1)Will English vocabulary teaching based on semantic field theory facilitate students' learning of breadth of vocabulary knowledge?(2)Will English vocabulary teaching based on semantic field theory facilitate students' learning of depth of vocabulary knowledge?(3)What are students' attitudes towards the method of English vocabulary teaching based on semantic field theory?In this study,two intact classes with 102 students from grade one of a Senior High School in Tianshui are chosen to be the participants.Class 13,with 50 students,is chosen to be the experimental class and Class 7,with 52 students,is the controlclass.Before the teaching instruction,participants of the two classes take the VLT(Vocabulary Level Test)and VKS(Vocabulary Knowledge Scales)pre-tests to ensure that there are no significant differences in the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge between them.After the pre-tests,participants are given a 12-week experimental treatment: the experimental class is taught with semantic field method while the control class is instructed with traditional teaching method.In the last week of the experiment,participants are given VLT and VKS Post-tests to see if there are significant differences in the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge between the two classes after the different vocabulary teaching instructions.A questionnaire is also conducted to the participants of the experimental class in order to know their attitudes toward vocabulary teaching method based on semantic field theory.The results show that vocabulary teaching method based on semantic field theory is an effective way to promote students' breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge.In addition,learners take a positive and favorable attitude toward the vocabulary teaching method.This study can provide some implication and suggestions for the vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.Meanwhile,there are some limitations in this study.For example,in the post-tests,there are only immediate post-tests and no delayed post-tests are carried out.The problem like this can be further explored in the future studies.