An Integrated Approach of Vocabulary Teaching英语专业毕业论文

An Integrated Approach of Vocabulary TeachingContentsAcknowledgements.iAbstract & Key Words.ii1. Introduction.12. Vocabulary Teaching in Various Approaches.2 2.1 Vocabulary Teaching in Traditional Approaches.22.2 Communicative Approach.53. An Integrated Approach of Vocabulary Teaching.8 3.1 The Model.9 3.2 Sample.10 3.3 Possible Problems and suggestive Solutions. 174. Pedagogical Implication.175. Conclusion.18References.1919 Abstract & Key WordsAbstract: The present paper concerns itself with the issue of vocabulary teaching. What the author wants to emphasize in the study is that a single way of dealing with the vocabulary cannot ensure the efficiency of vocabulary learning. There are five parts in this paper. The author starts with a brief introduction to the importance of vocabulary in the whole language system and the current state of vocabulary teaching. Then a literature review about the past teaching methods in their handling with vocabulary is done, followed by an objective evaluation of each by the author, with more attention put in the part of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Part three constitutes the main body of this study, with a model proposed for an integrated approach of vocabulary teaching and some corresponding samples. Some additional discussion of possible problems and suggestive solutions are also provided in this part. Part four contains some pedagogical implications from the sample in the last part. Finally, the author ends the research with the conclusion that an integrated approach of vocabulary teaching can be more helpful in improving students learning efficiency. Key Words: integrated approach, vocabulary teaching, Communicative Approach摘要：本文的重点在于说明在词汇教学问题上，几种方法的综合要优于单一的方法。文章共分为五个部分。首先对词汇在语言系统中的重要性以及目前词汇教学的现状作了一个简单的阐述。接着对以往的教学法中对词汇部分的处理方式一一作了综述，并给出较为客观地分析，侧重点为交际教学法。第三部分是全文的重点，作者在此部分提出了一个词汇教学综合法的模式，接着通过一个实例对此综合法进行阐述，并提出可能存在的问题和解决方法。由此得出关于整个教学活动的一些想法。最后，文章以再次强调综合法能够更好地提高学生词汇习得的效率做出总结。关键词：综合法，词汇教学，交际法An Integrated Approach of Vocabulary Teaching1. Introduction Phonetics, grammar and vocabulary are the three basic components in a language. And vocabulary, as its connections with listening, speaking, reading and writing, evidently shows its importance in the whole process of language learning. Before we go deep into the topic, lets first look at the word “vocabulary”. So whats the definition of vocabulary? Penny Ur （2000:60）once defined vocabulary as followed:Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for example, post office and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single ides. There are also multi-word idioms such as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary “items” rather than “words”. In Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary, Virginia French Allen （1983:5）states that lexical problems frequently interfere with communication; communication breaks down when people dont use the right words. While in the history of foreign language teaching in China, as is influenced by structuralism, grammar has always occupied a dominant role in ESL class, the part of vocabulary didnt receive enough attention, and most of the vocabulary learning was left to the students themselves. Consequently, learning vocabulary has become the major headache to students, and a special language learning phenomenon-mute English took root in China. This contradicts with the conclusion drawn by Horwitz （1988, quoted from Schmitt,N, 2002:201）who found that a substantial number of ESL students completing her questionnaire( ranging between 25 percent and 39 percent) either agreed or strongly agreed that the most important part of learning a foreign language is learning vocabulary, which is a sharp contrast with the vocabulary-teaching conditions at that time. Meanwhile, the emergence of communicative language teaching (CLT) in the 1970s tempted many educators into taking a communicative approach to language teaching, which has gained some achievements, especially in students communicative competence, defined by American linguist Dell Hymes as the “internalized knowledge of the situational appropriateness of language” (Zimmerman, 2001: 12). But the communicative approach has its weakness in the vocabulary part, especially to beginners or those at the intermediate level.Faced with the inefficiency in vocabulary study, many scholars began to call those popular teaching methods into question and till recently they have focused their attentions on vocabulary teaching. As more and more real-life experiences show, when a person is talking to someone from an English-speaking country, there is, usually, no problems emerging even though he cannot work out the proper grammar, at most, his speech sounds a little weird to the other side. But it is when he fails to come up with the right word that communication will stop. Moreover, learning vocabulary doesnt only mean learning how to pronounce it and spell it correctly, an effective teaching method should be conducive to the development of all-round skills including listening, speaking, reading, writing and interpretation, which is what this paper strives to do. This paper aims to draw peoples attention to vocabulary teaching and propose a more effective way for doing so. The author will first do a literature review about several popular vocabulary teaching methods and communicative approach, respectively analyzing their advantages and disadvantages, then propose an integrated approach of vocabulary teaching, followed by some pedagogical implications. The research material will be selected from the textbook of grade1, senior high school.2. Vocabulary Teaching in Various ApproachesIn order to have a deeper understanding about vocabulary teaching, it is necessary to take a brief look at those dominant teaching methods in history. 2.1Vocabulary Teaching in Traditional Approaches 2.1.1 Grammar-Translation MethodIn Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Richards & Rodgers, (2000:3-4) provides us with some general principles of Grammar-Translation method:The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language in order to read its literature or in order to benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development that result from foreign-language study It hence views language learning as consisting of little more than memorizing rules and facts in order to understand and manipulate the morphology and syntax of the foreign language.Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts used, and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study, and memorization. In a typical grammar-translation text, the grammar rules are presented and illustrated, a list of vocabulary items are presented with their translation equivalents, and translation exercises are prescribed.Direct vocabulary instruction was included only when a word is used to illustrate a grammatical rule, and thus vocabulary is secondary in the teaching process.Though the goal of teaching, that is, for the reading of classic literature, helps the contextualization and retention of the words learned and sometimes, memorization and translation can both be useful, especially for beginners, it has several disadvantages listed as follows:1) The words taught with Grammar-Translation method is obsolete and cannot be applied to carry out communication successfully.2) Not all the words in the target language have their equivalents in the native language.3) The students might make many mistakes due to their failure to understand the conceptional or associative meaning of the word.2.1.2 The Direct MethodThe Direct method advocates that “a foreign language could be taught without translation or the use of the learners native tongue if meaning was conveyed directly through demonstration and action.” “Classroom interaction was conducted exclusively in the target languageOnly everyday vocabulary was taughtConcrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects and pictures, abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.” (Richards & Rodgers, 2000:3-4) The teaching follows the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing.Although the target-language-centered class can create a foreign environment for students and drive them to conduct everything in the target language, and the method of teaching by demonstration can avoid misunderstanding, it has severe problems: 1) It oversimplifies the similarities between first language acquisition and foreign language learning. 2) As for the explanation of the meaning of new words, demonstration is the only preferred way which, sometimes, can be time-consuming.3) Most of the time when introducing a new lexical item, the pronunciation and the form are handled separately, which hinders the development of both speaking and writing at the same time. 2.1.3 The Situational Language TeachingThe Situational Language Teaching Method adopts a scientific way for the oral methods made popular by direct methodologist. It is stated that “language should be taught by practicing basic structures in meaningful situation-based activities; speech was the basis and structure that made speech possible.”(Zimmerman, 2001:10) It stresses selection, gradation and presentation of language structures. For the first time, vocabulary is considered one of the most important aspects of second language learning and the focus is put on developing a scientific and rational basis for selecting the vocabulary content of language courses. The learner is expected to deduce the meaning of a particular language item from the situation in which it is presented by visual means, such as by objects, pictures, actions and mime. And vocabulary is chosen according to how well it enables sentence patterns to be taught, and thus almost all the words taught in the class can be placed in situations in which the meaning is quite clear. By learning lexical items in situation, the students can be more impressed with the meaning and the use of a particular item, and at the time of learning words, the related syntactic rules can also be learned. However, it doesnt mean this method has no disadvantages.Disadvantages:1) The focus of vocabulary teaching is a scientific and rational way of vocabulary selection instead of a way of presenting lexical items themselves. 2) The practice techniques employed generally consists of guided repetition and substitution activities, which are rather boring and mechanical, students may produce a language item without really focusing on its meanings, and thus it is not helpful for a deeper understanding of the item.2.1.4 Audio-Lingual MethodThe Audio-Lingual Method is based on the combination of structural linguistic theory, contrastive analysis, aural-oral procedures and behaviorist psychology, and thus advocates a return to speech-based instruction with the primary objective of oral proficiency. It features the use of drills and pattern practice. Vocabulary items are selected according to their simplicity and familiarity. New words are introduced through the drills, but only enough words to make the drills possible, because it is suggested that “learning too much vocabulary early in the language learning process gives students a false sense of security.” (Zimmerman, 2001:11). “Excessive vocabulary learning early in the course gives students the impression that the most important thing about learning a language is accumulating new words as equivalents for concepts which they can already express in their native languages. ” (Rivers, 1981, quoted from Zimmerman, 2001:11). Lexical items are introduced to illustrate grammatical topics rather than as items with communicative value in itself. Other principles are as follows: “The gradual substitution of graphic symbols for sounds; the minimizing of vocabulary until all common structures have been learned; the study of vocabulary only in context.”(Richards & Rodgers, 2000:58) The order of teaching-spoken language first, written language next follows the order of first language acquisition. Students spoken English is emphasized at the very beginning of their learning so that the mute-English phenomenon can be avoided, but disadvantages still exist: 1) Since most of the drills are provided artificially, not in a truly communicative sense, students are often found to be unable to transfer skills acquired through this method to real communication outside the classroom, and the same with the Situational Method, the procedures are often boring and unsatisfying.2) The occurrence of new words is intentionally controlled to serve the teaching of phonological and grammatical structures.3) It is assumed that a good language-learning habit and frequent access to language will ultimately lead to the expansion of vocabulary, but it does not specify the ways to expand vocabulary.The appearance of Chomskys Transformational-Generative Grammar has called into questions the whole theoretical basis of the Audio-Lingual Method with the proposal that fundamental properties of language derive from innate aspects of the mind and from humans process experience through language instead of by habit formation.2.2Communicative Approach 2.2.1Principles and Characteristics Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) emerged in the 1970s when American linguist Dell Hymes in the 1970s coined the term “communicative competence” (CC) to draw attention to linguistic use in authentic contexts, as reacted against the Transformational Generative Grammar (TG Grammar) by Chomsky which prefers an ideal speaker-listeners knowledge. Hymes (2000:14) suggests that “competence seen as overall underlying linguistic knowledge and ability thus includes concepts of appropriateness and acceptabilityand the study of competence will inevitably entail consideration of such variables as attitude, motivation, and a number of sociocultural factors.” In Hymess view, a person who acquires linguistic competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language use with respect to: 1) whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible;2) whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of implementation available;3) whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate(adequate, happy, successful) in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated;4) whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed, and what its doing entails.(Hymes,2000:19) Some of the characteristics of this communicative view of language are as follows: (Richards & Rodgers, 2000:70)1) Language is a system for expression of meaning2) The primary function of language is for interaction and communication3) The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses.4) The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse. It is necessary to distinguish the communicative approach from the traditional situation-based approach. The principal aim of the traditional approach is to “promote a knowledge of the language system, to develop the learners competence” (Widdowson, 2000:118), that is to teach the ability to compose correct sentences. But as we all know, the ability of language use does not only refer to the knowledge of sentence composition, it also stresses the ability to use the target language to realize a set of communicative purposes. In addition, according to Widdowson, there are two categories of meaning: one is signification, “the meaning language items have as elements of the language system,” and the other value, “the meaning that language items have when they are actually put into acts of communication.” (1978/1996:11) Although the situation-based approach does promote the contextualization of language items by putting them in situational settings, it only teaches the signification of the item. That is why it is inadequate for the teaching of English as communication.It follows, then, that the communicative approach advocates an implicit and incidental way in vocabulary instruction. L2 students are directed to “recognize clues in context, use monolingual dictionaries and avoid defining words or glossing texts with their bilingual equivalents. Textbooks emphasized inferring word meaning from context as the primary vocabulary skill,” (Sokmen, 2002:237) All these ignore some important aspects: First, if guessing word meaning through the context is the only or a major way of learning vocabulary, then it would be a rather slow process, considering the limited amount of time spent in learning a foreign language.Second, inferring meaning from the context is likely to lead to misunderstanding, especially to those of a low proficiency, which will definitely reduce their motivation in learning English.Third, getting a correct meaning of the word by inferring doesnt necessarily mean the learner gains sufficient knowledge of the word. According to Richards, “knowing a word means knowing how often it occurs, its appropriateness in different situations, its syntactic behavior, its underlying form and derivations, its word associations and its semantic features.” (Sokmen, 2002:237).Various studies create a range of 5-16 encounters needed for a student to truly acquire the meaning of a word and turn it into long-term memory.(Nation,1990, quoted from Schmitt, 2002:217)Fourth, stressing too much on inferring skills contradicts with the fact that vocabulary learning strategies vary from learners to learners. Students with large vocabularies are not necessarily good at inferring, they may adopt other means, such as, frequently looking up words in dictionary, to learn new words more effectively. That is to say, learning words through inferring cannot be applied to everybody, considering the individual difference that lies between each learner. That is why different learning strategies are encouraged among students. And the strategy of guessing from the context has prerequisites:1). The learner must have a certain level of language proficiency to ensure that he can get the correct meaning or at least a meaning of the word from the context.2). The learner must have enough background knowledge of the subject which can facilitate the guessing process.3). “The context must be rich in clues to help guessing, with the most easily utilizable clues being in close proximity to the target word.”(Schmitt, 2002:209)Though the disadvantages mentioned above, it doesnt mean that the communicative approach should be dismissed as unuseful; we should recognize its advantages:First, the ultimate goal of language learning is to put it in use which needs the recontexualization by the user.Second, contextual guessing may be especially helpful to students with a higher English proficiency or when learning highly complex words.As the communicative langua