A Study Of The Effects Of Applying Prototype Theory-based Teaching Method On Senior High School Students' Acquisition Of Polysemy

Being a common linguistic phenomenon,polysemy accounts for a large part in English vocabulary.However,polysemy learning can be a challenge for most EF L learners.The Prototype Theory proposed that among all the sematic senses of a polysemy,there is a prototypical sense and other peripheral senses derived from it through cognitive motivation.Thus,the semantic senses of a polysemy are interrelated and can be organized into a semantic network.Theoretically,it can help learners to acquire polysemy in a more efficient way.Therefore,this thesis aims to study the effects of Prototype Theory-based teaching method on senior high school students' acquisition of polysemy.More specifically,three questions will be answered: 1)Compared with a traditional approach,will there be any different effects on senior high school students' acquisition of polysemy when they are guided under the Prototype Theory-based teaching method? 2)What will the different effects be on senior high school students' acquisition of polysemy in terms of receptive knowledge and productive knowledge? 3)Why will there be such kind of different effects on senior high school students' acquisition of polysemy when they are guided under the Prototype Theory-based teaching method?Altogether two groups of students from a state-run senior high school in Zhejiang province participated in the study.49 students were guided by the Prototype Theory-based teaching method and the other 48 were guided by a traditional approach.Related immediate post-tests were given out after the target polysemy were taught,and delayed post-tests one month later.An interview was also carried out as a supplement study.Data collected from the tests were analyzed by SPSS 24.0.Results of the study are now summarized as follows:1)Compared with the traditional approach,a Prototype Theory-based polysemy teaching method can help promote senior high school students' acquisition of the target polysemy.2)Specifically,students' receptive knowledge and productive knowledge of the target polysemy are both benefited a lot from the Prototype Theory-based teaching method,and somehow their productive knowledge progresses even more.Suc h effectiveness appears to be more significant for a polysemy with more semantic senses.Second,for students who learn polysemy under the instruction of the Prototype Theory,their overall performance is becoming increasingly better over time.Last but not least,unlike previous studies,this thesis finds out that the gap of the performance discrepancy between the experimental class and the control class is reducing over time.3)There are many reasons.The overall effectiveness of the Prototype Theory on senior high school students' acquisition of polysemy is due to its effects on reducing memory burden and therefore improving learning efficiency.The more semantic senses a polysemy has,the more significant the effectiveness will be.Students' curiosity and enthusiasm triggered by this approach also help.And it consequently promotes their receptive knowledge and productive knowledge.The more noticeable discrepancy in students' productive knowledge has something to do with the text form.In addition,the progressive proficiency of the Prototype Theory leads to the gradual improvement of students ' overall performance.Last,the diminishing gap is probably due to students' learning habit and their daily English learning.Based on such results,there is no doubt that the Prototype Theory should be strongly recommended in senior high school English polysemy teaching.In addition,teachers also need to realize that it is not a one day job and should be applied in a gradual and accessible way.Besides,effective as the theory can be,it is the learners that count.Hence,it is also significantly important for students to cultivate well learning habits,as well as to have extensive reading and proper amount of exercises to consolidate it.