An Empirical Study On Context-based Mind-map In Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High Schools

Mind-mapping has been implemented and studied in various areas of English teaching,among which vocabulary teaching has been developing greatly in a similar way with a drawback of lacking context.To make it up,Tang(2021)combined mind-map with context(context-based mind-map,CBM)which are effective in developing learners’ vocabulary competence from a theoretical perspective,but it still lacks the support from empirical studies.The present thesis focused on how context-based mind-map influences EFL learners’ vocabulary competence which might give empirical evidence to Tang’s studies.Here,vocabulary competence refers to four elements which includes vocabulary size,depth and lexical skills and vocabulary learning strategies.With the lights from context theory,knowledge visualization theory,and constructivism theory,attempts were made to construct a new teaching mode-CBM.Further more,it was designed and implemented in English classes through an experiment that lasted two months so as to make a quest on whether CBM teaching mode improve students’ vocabulary competence.To be more specifically,the present study was to answer the following questions:(1)What are the effects of "CBM" on high school students’ English vocabulary size ?(2)What are the effects of "CBM" on high school students’ English vocabulary knowledge ?(3)What are the effects of "CBM" on high school students’ lexical skills ?(4)What are the effects of "CBM" on high school students’ lexical learning strategies?In the 13 weeks’ experiment,tests and questionnaires were handed out to 102 high school English EFL learners from a Chinese L1 background before and after experiment.They are students in grade 11 from a certain senior high school.Tests tested participants’ vocabulary size,vocabulary knowledge and lexical skills,and questionnaires were supposed to answer the question in vocabulary learning strategies.Scores on vocabulary size,depth of vocabulary knowledge,and reading comprehension were significantly increased,and the percentage of students using mind-map as a tool in cognitive strategies has also significantly increased.The data collected produced empirical evidence that CBM has significant influence on vocabulary size,depth of vocabulary knowledge,lexical skills(in terms of reading comprehension test)and cognitive strategy.The results of the present study also shows that CBM is helpful in EFL learners vocabulary development,which means it is valuable in teaching practice.