A Study Of The Effect Of The Mind Map On English Vocabulary Learning Of Secondary Vocational School Students

This study is carried out to investigate the influence of the Mind map on English vocabulary learning of the students in the secondary vocational school.With regard to the effectiveness of the Mind map,domestic and international scholars have done some studies.Almost all researchers selected college students or junior middle school students as subject.For secondary vocational school students without a solid foundation for English learning,what effects will be exerted on their English vocabulary learning? Based on the previous research,this study tries to make an inquiry about the application actuality and the effects of the Mind map on English Vocabulary Learning.Based on the theoretic foundation of knowledge visualization theory and constructivism theory,this research selects secondary vocational school students as subjects,combining experiment research with questionnaire survey,which aims to answer the following three research questions:(1)What’s the current situation of Mind map application in English teaching ?(2)To what extent,can the mind map influence secondary vocational school students’ vocabulary learning?(3)What’s the different effects on vocabulary test result on students with different vocabulary levels(high-level group,middle-level group and low-level group)?To answer these questions,two parallel classes(class1& class2)from one Secondary Vocational School in Huaibei City,Anhui Province are selected as the research subjects,and carried out a ten-week vocabulary teaching experiment.Questionnaires and comparative experiments were conducted in this experiment.(1)According to the results of the questionnaire for the teacher,the current situation of Mind map application in English teaching is not satisfying for us,because of the low rate of the teachers who understand Mind Map well,master the skill of drawing Mind Map in their teaching and get the professional guidance on how to use Mind Map in English teaching.Contrastively,most of these teachers have a strong willing to get the professional guidance on how to use Mind Map in English teaching,and most of them think Mind Map in their teaching will be efficient and effective.(2)As the figures of questionnaire for theses students show,generally speaking,Mind maps have positive effects on students’ vocabulary learning strategy development.Mind maps have significant effects on students’ Vocabulary learning strategy such as memory strategy and cognitive strategy,however it makes no difference to determination strategy,social strategy and meta-cognitive strategy of two classes.(3)Mind map can facilitate students’ vocabulary retention and improve their vocabulary achievements.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.The result shows that that the application of mind map in the secondary vocational school English vocabulary teaching as a strategy of teaching and learning tool is effective.It is expected that this research can improve the shortcomings of English vocabulary teaching and provide some references for English vocabulary teaching methods and strategies.Some pedagogical implications for English vocabulary learning and teaching are put forward with limitations and some suggestions for further study.It will take longer time for researcher to conduct the research and more students and teachers should be involved in the research.