Application Of Context In Lexical Teaching

Insufficient attention has been given to lexical teaching for a long time, but it constitutes an integral part of any language teaching program. Most of the teaching time in the class is consumed by the explanation and definition of words. Many students memorize words through reading or writing repeatedly, and such method has caused lots of obstacles in actual application. More and more teachers have come to realize the significance of context in English lexical teaching. The interacted information in communication is realized by context, influencing and restricting the inference and explanation of the word meaning. Without the help of context, it seems more difficult to identify the connotation of a word. Therefore, learning new vocabulary through context is of vital importance in classroom lexical learning.This thesis attempts to integrate context theories with lexical teaching of college students with the aim to improve students'ability to apprehend the language and communicative competence. This thesis discusses the following questions:(1) What is the relationship between word meaning and context?(2) What is the role of context in college lexical teaching?(3) How could context theories be applied in college lexical teaching?The author briefly reviews the study of context and introduces Malinowski, Firth, Halliday's context theories and the current researches on context in China. The author holds that the meaning of the word is heavily dependent on context, without which a word will not have a definite meaning. Based on the relationship between word meaning and context, the role of context in English lexical teaching is discussed.On the basis of the analysis of present situation in current English lexical teaching in China, the application of context theory to lexical teaching and the classification and function of context have been conducted. Context in this paper is classified into linguistic context and non-linguistic context, the former including lexical context, grammatical context and verbal context while the latter including situational context and cultural context. Lexical context indicates that the meaning of a word may vary in different collocations. Grammatical context demonstrates the meaning of a word differs greatly according to various grammatical structures. Verbal context can help students guess the word meaning from different context clues. Situational context can help students master the word meaning comprehensively. As to cultural context, comparison on the similarities and differences in cultural meaning of words between English and Chinese has been made. Finally through this study, lexical teaching in context can facilitate the students to obtain a comprehensive understanding of word meanings and apply them appropriately.