A Research On Application Of The Context Theory To The Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

As the foundation of language, vocabulary is one of the most important factors. D.A.Wilkins, the famous British linguist, put it in this way “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed; Without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”.(1972) As the fundamental step of English teaching, vocabulary teaching plays a vital role in the achievement of foreign language teaching. However, the achievement of English teaching does not get a satisfied situation at home even though teachers have spent a lot of time on teaching and students have spent so much time on learning. With the further development of the educational reform in English teaching, context theory, as a new trend for vocabulary teaching, has become a focus among the scholars and teachers. At present, the researches at home attach more importance to the significance of context rather than the specific application, which makes the contextual vocabulary teaching a potential.Foreign language learning is, in fact, a kind of cross-cultural communication. During the daily vocabulary teaching, questions come up. How does the teacher conduct the vocabulary teaching in context for real? What is the better way to set up the authentic language context to stimulate students’ interest in vocabulary learning? What is a better way to create a kind of context to consolidate the vocabulary they have learned? Aiming at those questions, this thesis will conduct the 12-week research under the direction of context and vocabulary teaching with the hope to provide some references to give a promotion to vocabulary teaching. The experimental research will be conducted in the circle of sixty students from the two parallel classes, Class One and Class Two of Grade two. The thirty students from the experimental class will be taught by contextual teaching method, while the thirty students of the control class will be taught by the traditional teaching method. As to the experimental methods, the author will conduct the research on the base of two pieces of questionnaire and two piece of test papers. In addition, an interview after the test will come to help. According to the analysis of the experiment, the fact that vocabulary teaching on the basic of context does have a significant effect on students’ learning shows up. Students in the experimental class do have improved the vocabulary learning and using ability. While in the control class, the situation of vocabulary leaning is not getting better. The experimental result shows the fact that the concrete contextual vocabulary teaching method stimulates students’ interest in vocabulary learning and improves their ability of vocabulary learning as well as application. Compared with the traditional teaching method, the contextual teaching method does have the advantages.This thesis will be finished in five chapters. The first chapter will state the significance, goals and methods of the thesis and the structure of the thesis. The second chapter is about the relevant research and results about vocabulary teaching and context theory at home and abroad. The third chapter will analyze the current situation of vocabulary teaching in domestic senior high school firstly and then introduce the concrete application of context theory in vocabulary teaching, including the application principle and methods. The forth chapter will hold an experiment on the basic of context theory in the two classes the author teaches. The fifth chapter will summarize the application of the context theory from the following aspects—firstly, findings and reflection on the contextual teaching method; secondly, suggestion on the contextual teaching method; thirdly, limitations of the experiment.