A Study On The Effectiveness Of Combining Phonics And IPA In Vocabulary Teaching

Vocabulary,the fundamental component of English education and communication,cannot be isolated from English learning.Thus,it is crucial for English learners to understand and use vocabulary correctly.Vocabulary learning includes three aspects:sound,shape and meaning,which are inseparable.However,for Chinese students who lack a language environment,there are some difficulties in vocabulary learning,mainly in two aspects:(1)It’s difficult to spell words and to grasp the shapes of words.(2)The sound,form,and meaning of a word cannot be mastered simultaneously,and “dumb English” is a typical representative of this phenomenon.As a result,students’ interest in English learning gradually decreases with the rise of grade,and they show a deep sense of powerlessness.Exploring effective methods for vocabulary teaching for Chinese students is of utmost importance in light of this.Phonics and IPA are the primary techniques for mastering pronunciation.The phonics is the main method for English beginners in British and American countries to learn pronunciation,while IPA is widely used in the countries who take English as the second language.A novel way of teaching vocabulary to students can be achieved through the successful combination of phonics and IPA.The three primary questions of this thesis are: 1.Can the combination of Phonics and IPA heighten the phonological cognizance of middle schoolers? 2.Can the combination of Phonics and IPA heighten the efficacy of vocabulary acquisition for middle schoolers? 3.Can the combination of Phonics and IPA heighten middle schoolers’ enthusiasm for English learning? Based on classroom teaching practice,this thesis takes a rural junior middle school students as the research subjects,using a teaching strategy that combines Phonics and IPA in the experimental class,and using IPA in the control class.The experiment spanned a semester,and at its conclusion,pupils in both classes were evaluated for their phonological cognizance,pronunciation,spelling,and enthusiasm for learning.The results of the study show that the combined teaching strategy of Phonics and IPA can significantly improve junior middle school students’ English phonological cognizance and English vocabulary learning efficiency,and thus increase interest in English learning,compared to the use of a single IPA teaching strategy.The study confirms that the combined teaching strategy of Phonics and IPA is a more feasible and effective method,and it is worth to be widely promoted and used in teaching vocabulary in Chinese middle schools.This study can provide a reference for the development of English teaching and national language proficiency in Chinese secondary schools,which is important for improving the overall English proficiency of the nation.