On The Impacts Of Story-Making On English Vocabulary Learning For Junior High School Students-A Case Study Of Affiliated High School Of Henan Normal University

English Curriculum Standards (version 2011) (ECS) states clearly the requirements on the competence of English vocabulary for junior high school students, focusing on the understanding and interpretation of the basic meanings of words and their different meanings in different contexts. The students should be able to describe events, behaviors, features and concepts using the words.However, the data from questionnaires and interviews reveal the competence in English vocabulary learning of junior high students is far from satisfaction, which has mainly resulted from weak context awareness. Some effective measures have to be taken so as to improve the students'competence and learning efficiency in English vocabulary. This study takes two ordinary classes of Grade 2014, with 60 students in each, from the Affiliated High School of Henan Normal University as the research subjects, applying "story-making" in the teaching and learning of English vocabulary.Classroom action research has been conducted, aiming to answer two main questions: (1) what changes will story-making bring to the students' English vocabulary learning? (2) What changes will story-making bring to the students' attitudes toward and beliefs in English vocabulary learning? Learning diaries and reflective diaries by the students have been followed so that the changes in their strategies, context awareness as well as their attitudes toward and beliefs in English vocabulary learning can be traced. The students have made up their stories with words from the vocabulary list from ECS and from the texts as well.Data from the four-month classroom action research show:(1) the students have applied more different strategies in learning English vocabulary, especially the strategies like mind-mapping, linking, using images, inferring by contexts, etc., integrating words into the genre of a story; (2) the students' beliefs in vocabulary learning has been re-constructed, realizing the significance of interest, confidence and learning by using; (3) the students are better at using linking words, which in turn enhances their logical thinking, reflective thinking and creative thinking.This research focuses on the words at productive level, rather than at receptive level, which will be the focus in later researches.