An Experimental Study On The Effects Of Multiliteracies On Middle School Students' English Vocabulary Learning

Vocabulary plays an essential role in the second language teaching and learning.However,the present situation of vocabulary teaching and learning in the English classroom in junior middle school is far from satisfaction.Most students complain that memorizing vocabulary is not only time-consuming but also boring.They also have difficulty in terms of vocabulary comprehension.They always memorize new words by rote repetition and then forget them soon.In order to improve vocabulary learning effects,to help students learn words better and acquire word learning strategies,the author conducted an experimental study based on theories of multimodal discourse analysis,context theory and word association strategies.This study employed quantitative analysis of the data collected with vocabulary tests,exploring the effects of multiliteracies on English vocabulary learning.In this study,we have two questions to put forward.1)How do multiliteracies affect junior middle school students' long term memory of English vocabulary?2)What are the effects of multiliteracies on junior middle school students' English vocabulary comprehension?Before the experiment,92 students of Grade 7 in two classes in a foreign Language School in Guangzhou were chosen as the subjects in this study.A mid-term test would be used to test student' English proficiency.A vocabulary size test,the Vocabulary Levels Test which developed by Schmitt et al.(2001)was employed to measure the learners' receptive vocabulary size in the pre-tests.Ten words were selected as the target words for each round.During the experiment,the subjects in the control class were taught by conventional instruction without multiliteracies while the subjects in the experimental class were taught by multiliteracies.Immediately after the teaching treatment,all the students were required to take a vocabulary retention test and a vocabulary comprehension test.After one week,a vocabulary retention test was conducted in the two groups.The author collected and analyzed the data byStatistical Package for the Social Science l7.0.The data of the pre-tests,immediate tests and delayed test were all analyzed with independent samples t-test.Based on the data analysis,we can draw the conclusion that multiliteracies are effective in vocabulary learning.Two major findings have emerged from the research:(1)With various modes of information,multiliteracies remind students of paying attention to the vocabulary association strategy.Therefore,multiliteracies are helpful for junior middle school students' long term memory of English vocabulary;(2)Multiliteracies give students enough meaningful comprehensible input.However,this method does not effect on every student.To some degree,multiliteracies have some influence on junior middle school students' English vocabulary comprehension,especially for students with better English proficiency.In light of the research results and the training process,we have the following pedagogical implications: First,it is more effective for English teachers to apply the multiliteracies teaching method in vocabulary teaching to obtain better vocabulary retention by students.Second,multiliteracies exert influence on junior middle school students' English vocabulary comprehension,especially for students who have better English proficiency.