A Research On Vocabulary Exercise Design In English Textbooks For Senior School

The importance of vocabulary in language learning has been widely recognized.The famous English linguist Wilkins?1972?believes that"without grammar very little can be conveyed;without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed".^[75]According to him,vocabulary is a very crucial component in foreign language learning.The new curriculum reform in China has posed a greater challenge on students'English vocabulary learning.However,there exist a great many problems in Chinese students'vocabulary learning.They usually have difficulty in keeping a good memory of newly-learned vocabulary;they have a limited vocabulary size;they perform poorly in productively using language.As a main load of Chinese students'English learning,textbook plays a significant role in their vocabulary acquisition.The vocabulary exercises in the textbooks are an important part in the textbook and provide an initial stage for students to practice and consolidate the newly-learned vocabulary in each unit.Therefore,the quality of the exercises can have a great influence on students'vocabulary learning.This thesis attempts to analyze and evaluate the vocabulary exercise design in the five compulsory books of New Senior English for China?NSEFC for short?,which is published by People's Education Press in China.The research aims to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the exercise design and thus to provide some implications or suggestions for the vocabulary exercise deign in English textbooks.This study employs the content analysis and the questionnaire as research methods.The content analysis combines the qualitative and quantitative analysis.It is elaborated from the following five dimensions:quantity of target vocabulary covered in exercises;word knowledge practiced in exercises;vocabulary learning strategies reflected in exercises;diversity of vocabulary exercises;repetition of new vocabularies in the following units.The questionnaire,which is designed for students who are using the textbook,investigate into their opinions on the vocabulary exercise design in NSEFC.The result of the study shows that the vocabulary exercise design in NSEFC generally complies with the framework of word knowledge and conforms to the principles of vocabulary exercise design.The three dimensions of word knowledge?form,meaning,and use?all get practiced in the exercises.Meanwhile,some useful vocabulary learning theories and strategies are indeed embodied in the exercises,such as constructing semantic network,memorizing vocabulary by classifying and sorting,developing morphological awareness,and integrating learning with playing in word games.In addition,the vocabulary exercises in NSEFC are diversified in formats,which sum up to 11 different types in quantity.However,there are also some aspects that need to be improved.First,the quantity of the target vocabularies practiced in the exercises in each unit is a bit large.Second,both the quantity and quality of those exercises involving word associations are not satisfactory.Third,the quantity of production activities is not enough,either.Fourth,the quantity of the newly-learned vocabularies repeated in the following units is quite small while the repetition frequency is low as well.In the compiling of vocabulary exercises in English textbooks in further days,these problems need to be paid due attention to.