The Effect Of Input Frequency On The Acquisition Of The Meaning Of English Spatial Prepositions By Junior High School Students

Input frequency is an important factor in second language learning.However,there has been little research on it in the past.With the development of usage-based linguistics,the input frequency has attracted the attention of researchers at home and abroad and has been gradually applied to many fields such as second language acquisition and language teaching.In the field of second language acquisition,scholars mainly studied the effect of frequency on the acquisition of language skills and language knowledge.In the study of language knowledge acquisition,researchers study the effect of input frequency on vocabulary and grammar.In terms of second language vocabulary acquisition,most researchers mainly investigate the effect of input frequency on the acquisition of notional words.However,the study on the influence of input frequency on the semantic acquisition of spatial prepositions which are difficult for second language learners is relatively rare.Therefore,under the guidance of theories about frequency effect,the study is to investigate the influence of input frequency on the semantic acquisition of spatial prepositions.A total of 120 students from two classes in Lin Yi No.6 middle school took part in the experiments.One class is a control class and the other is an experimental class.The contents of input materials of preposition semantics are the same in control class and experimental class,but the teaching methods of the two classes are different.The control class adopted the traditional teaching method while the experimental class adopted the input frequency teaching method.Subjects in the experimental class were firstly divided into the high-proficient group and the low-proficient group with 30 people in each group.Half of the subjects in each group received verbatim repetition and the other half received varied repetition.Finally,all subjects were tested for the acquisition of preposition semantics.The data are statistically analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics,T-test and variance analysis.Together with the results of the interview,the major findings of the study are as follows:1.Input frequency does have influence on the semantic acquisition of spatial preposition by second language learners.With the increase of input frequency,learners acquired spatial semantics of prepositions better.2.There are significant differences between verbatim repetition and varied repetition in affecting the acquisition of spatial prepositions in English by junior middle school students.The varied repetition has a greater influence on preposition acquisition than verbatim repetition.3.Under the same type of repetition,English proficiency has an effect on the acquisition of spatial preposition.Students with high English proficiency benefit more than those with low English proficiency in acquiring the spatial semantics of prepositions.This study confirmed the influence of input frequency on the semantic acquisition of spatial prepositions by junior middle school students.At the same time,it thoroughly examined the effect of verbatim repetition and varied repetition on second language learners' acquisition of spatial preposition.On the basis of previous studies,the study puts forward a new teaching approach to the semantics of spatial prepositions,which has theoretical and practical significance for future teaching.