Application Of Context Theory To English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

As is known to all, vocabulary teaching has been a significant part in English teaching and the extent of learners’ vocabulary indicates the learner’s intelligence and language skills. In recent years, a great number of research and attempts have been carried out, and vocabulary teaching in China has greatly improved. Students make large progress in oral English, but the accuracy of expression is not ideal enough. There still exists a phenomenon that vocabulary instruction is time-consuming and inefficient. Students are able to remember words and phrases, but they have much problem using them properly, which has become the main obstacle in their English learning and often results in communication failures. This thesis attempts to analyze vocabulary teaching from theoretical and practical perspectives and the study is undertaken to explore a more effective and practical method of vocabulary teaching. With the method, teachers can better help students get a deeper comprehension of the word and grasp the connotative meaning of the word completely and accurately.At present, the application of context theory in vocabulary teaching is becoming popular and widely used in language teaching. Malinowski, a Polish anthropologist, first brought forward context as a kind of linguistic phenomenon or phenomenon related to the use of language. He defines context as the situations or circumstances of language use that plays an important role in language application. Since then, many scholars have conducted studies on context. Based on the results of previous studies, the present thesis gives a detailed analysis and explanation of context and its connection with vocabulary acquisition strategies. The focus of the paper lies in the application of context, both linguistic and non-linguistic, to vocabulary teaching. The author provides abundant examples to illustrate how knowledge of context can make vocabulary learning and teaching more effective and efficient.Combined with the teaching practice in high school, the thesis attempts to conduct a study on the application of context in vocabulary teaching. The author hopes this thesis can make more English teachers realize the significance of context in vocabulary acquisition so as to improve language teaching as well as promoting students’ communicative ability; the author also hopes that this study will be useful reference for future studies on vocabulary teaching in high school.