A Study On The Application Of The Mind Map To Junior English Vocabulary Teaching

Vocabulary is an indispensable component of English language,and it plays a very important role in improving learners’ English.Although teachers and students are aware of the importance of English vocabulary,the current situation of vocabulary teaching and learning in junior middle school is still unsatisfying,and it remains time-consuming and inefficient.However,mind map is an effective thinking tool which can facilitate students’ vocabulary memorization.It also can present the process of thinking with visual diagrams by the means of lines,code,images,colors and other forms.Therefore,this research applies mind map to English vocabulary teaching aiming to verify its effectiveness by empirical study.This thesis focuses on the following three questions: First,whether the mind map can increase the number of words extraction and reproduction.Second,whether the mind map can improve students’ vocabulary achievement.And does it have any different effect on the students with different vocabulary levels(high-level group,middle-level group and low-level group)? Third,whether the mind map can enhance students’ interest in vocabulary learning.To answer these questions,the author selected two parallel classes(class5& class 6)of grade 8 from Huaifang Road Middle School in Huaibei City,Anhui Province as the research subjects,and carried out a ten-week vocabulary teaching experiment.Questionnaires,interviewing and comparative experiments were conducted in this experiment.The experimental data were analyzed by SPSS19.0,and the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)Vocabulary teaching based on mind map can increase the number of words extraction and reproduction.(2)Mind map can facilitate students’ vocabulary retention and improve their vocabulary achievement.However,it has slightly different impact on the students with different vocabulary levels.And the impact of middle and low level group of students is more obvious,especially in low-level group.(3)Mind map can not only enhance students’ interest in vocabulary learning but also change students’ learning habits and ways,and develop students’ divergent thinking and creative thinking.This study finds that the application of mind map in the junior middle school English vocabulary teaching as a way of teaching and learning tools is effective.It is expected that this study can improve the shortcomings of junior middle school English vocabulary teaching and provide some reference for English vocabulary teaching methods and strategies.