An Empirical Study Of College English Vocabulary Memorizing Under The Guidance Of Association Memory Strategy

Language plays an important role in communication, and vocabulary is one of the three key elements(pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar) of language. Therefore it is necessary to learn more vocabularies in that it is the basis of English listening,speaking, reading, writing and translating, especially the reading because it accounts for forty percent of CET-4 score. However, the current situation of college English vocabulary learning is not satisfying in China. The main difficulties in vocabulary learning are large in number, hard to memorize and difficult to grasp. In view of the existing situation, it is necessary and significant to adopt some scientific and effective vocabulary learning strategies.This thesis combines with the practical teaching, exploring the effectiveness of association memory strategy for English vocabulary learning that based on cognitive psychology in the hope of giving some beneficial advice to English learners’ vocabulary study. The author selects two non-English major sophomore classes in Xi’an Polytechnic University, one class as the experimental class and the other as the controlled class. Each class has 30 subjects. The experimental class is instructed with association memory strategy, while the controlled class is taught with the traditional teaching method. During three months’ training, the author uses the questionnaire, vocabulary tests and interview to record learning results of these two classes.The findings of this research indicate that association memory strategy is scientific and effective for sophomore students, which can enhance learners’ ability of vocabulary learning and vocabulary memory. The association memory strategy helps learners link their existing knowledge with their new knowledge. This association memory strategy has much positive influence on English vocabulary learning. At the same time, association memory strategy helps students form the consciousness of vocabulary learning strategy and arouses learners’ interest in vocabulary learning.Expecting this empirical research can add example to the research of this field. There is no denying that there are still some limitations in this thesis, which can be improved and perfected in further researches, so as to promote the development of this research field in the deeper and broader direction.