A Study On Using Mind Mapping Vocabulary Teaching To Reduce English Learning Anxiety Of Ninth Grade Students

English vocabulary is an important part of English learning.Junior high school is an important stage of vocabulary accumulation.Learning vocabulary well can lay a solid foundation for English reading and expression.However,due to the large memory capacity of vocabulary,the difficulty of pronunciation and the weak foundation of phonetic symbols,students are prone to anxiety in English vocabulary learning.According to the affective filtering hypothesis,higher learning anxiety will increase the filtering of language,and individuals will receive less input.In addition,high anxiety will cause harm to the physical and mental health of individuals,so it is very important to adopt effective teaching strategies to reduce students’ English learning anxiety.Mind mapping,a more intuitive learning strategy,is widely used in all kinds of teaching and plays a great role in promoting learning.Therefore,this study applies the mind mapping strategy to vocabulary teaching and explores the effect of this strategy on reducing junior middle school students’ English learning anxiety.This study is based on the activation diffusion model of constructivist learning theory and the emotional filtering hypothesis.A total of 195 people from 4 classes of Grade 9 in a middle school in Yichang,Hubei Province were selected as the research objects.By using questionnaire and experiment m ethods,the current situation of English learning anxiety of grade 9 students before the teaching experiment was investigated through Classroom Anxiety Scale and revised Vocabulary Learning Anxiety Questionnaire.After that,two randomly selected experimental classes were carried out a 12-week English vocabulary mind mapping teaching experiment.The control class still adopted the traditional teaching method.After the experiment,the learning anxiety of the two classes was investigated and the data before and after the experiment was compared and analyzed.The aim is to study the following three questions:(1)What is the current situation of English learning anxiety of Grade Three students?(2)Can mind mapping vocabulary teaching strategies effectively reduce students’ English learning anxiety?After the analysis of experimental data,the study found that:(1)Before the beginning of the teaching experiment,grade 9 students on the whole had relatively serious English learning anxiety(including English vocabulary learning anxiety and classroom anxiety).In terms of specific dimensions,the anxiety level of vocabulary mastery is higher in vocabulary learning anxiety,and the anxiety level of "fear of speaking English" is higher in classroom anxiety.(2)In terms of gender difference,girls’ English vocabulary learning anxiety,classroom anxiety and other dimensions are higher than boys’,but the difference is not significant.(3)The use of mind mapping vocabulary teaching strategy can effectively reduce students’ English learning anxiety.Specifically,the level of vocabulary learning anxiety and classroom anxiety in the experimental class decreased significantly after the use of mind mapping teaching strategy,while the level of vocabulary learning anxiety and classroom anxiety in the control class also decreased slightly after the continuation of the traditional teaching method,but they were not significant.Before the teaching experiment,the level of vocabulary learning anxiety and classroom anxiety of the experimental class is slightly higher than that of the control class,but neither is significant.After the teaching experiment,the level of vocabulary learning anxiety and classroom anxiety of the experimental class is significantly lower than that of the control class.Therefore,this study draws the following conclusions:(1)Grade 9 students have more serious English learning anxiety,and there is no gender difference;(2)Mind mapping vocabulary teaching strategy can effectively reduce students’ English learning anxiety.Finally,this study also puts forward some teaching suggestions:(1)Give full play to the role of mind mapping in vocabulary teaching and vocabulary review.(2)Pay attention to the cultivation of students’ learning habit of using mind mapping,and combine mind mapping with other teaching methods.Hope these suggestions can provide references for teachers to carry out English teaching.