The Application Of Context Theory To English Vocabulary Teaching In Junior Middle School

Vocabulary is a dominant component among the elements of a language.One can't convey anything and be understood by others without vocabulary.Vocabulary is the basis of learning and using a language and English vocabulary teaching is a fundamental part of English teaching.However,the traditional methods of English vocabulary teaching which are not effective enough are also still widely used by some teachers in China's junior middle schools at present so that vocabulary learning has become the biggest barrier in many students' language learning process.In addition,the Curriculum Standards for Middle School English puts forward higher requirements for students' English learning in junior middle school.From all above,it is urgent and necessary for teachers to find more effective methods of vocabulary teaching.In recent years,many researchers at home and abroad have applied context theory to vocabulary teaching which has been proved to be an effective way of teaching words.Based on elaborating and discussing context theory and relevant findings about the application of context theory to English vocabulary teaching,this thesis carried on an empirical study on applying context theory to English vocabulary teaching.This experiment chose the students from two classes of grade two in No.5 middle school of Ulan Hot City to be subjects.The two classes were divided into the control class and the experimental class.In the teaching process of a semester,the traditional vocabulary teaching methods were applied in the control class and context theory was applied to vocabulary teaching in experimental class.The experiment included pre-test and post-test.The instruments mainly included questionnaires,vocabulary tests and interview.All the papers of vocabulary tests were read and marked by experienced teachers and the data were analyzed with SPSS in detail.The results were also discussed and summarized systematically.The results showed that after applying context theory to English vocabulary learning,students in the experimental class greatly improved their ability of understanding and remembering English words and were able to use the words they learnt to communicate with others.At the same time,they increased their interest in English vocabulary teaching.This experiment also gave us many implications: teachers should lead students to combine concrete context to understand and remember English words,teachers should lead students to combine relevant cultural background to understand and remember English words and in addition,teachers should pay more attention to stimulate students' interest in the teaching process.