An Experimental Study Of The Effects Of Context-theory-based Vocabulary Teaching On Students’ Vocabulary Acquisition In Senior High School

Context is very important in English vocabulary learning and multi-level theories of contextualized vocabulary teaching provide the theoretical basis for vocabulary teaching and learning.However,the teachers in senior high school still use the traditional methods to teach vocabulary.Contextualized vocabulary teaching and learning is often neglected in senior high school English class and Pragmatic studies in this aspect are far from enough in China.Based on the theories of context and vocabulary acquisition,the author puts forward the contextualized vocabulary teaching.Guided by the theories of context and vocabulary teaching,the paper first reviews the previous researches at home and abroad.This thesis aims to explore how to implement English vocabulary teaching and improve its efficiency under the guidance of context theory in the process of vocabulary teaching including vocabulary presentation and consolidation so as to increase students‘ interest and strengthen their vocabulary acquisition in senior high school.Considering the problems the teachers and students have and the research gap left by previous relevant studies,the author brings forwards the following research questions in accordance with vocabulary teaching in senior high school:1)Can context-based vocabulary teaching approach improve students’ interest of learning English vocabulary?2)Can context-based vocabulary teaching approach promote students’ ability of memorizing words?3)Can context-based vocabulary teaching approach facilitate students’ ability to guess the meaning of new words?The author makes a four-month experiment in a senior high school in the city of Guangzhou,Guangdong Province.Two classes from grade one are chosen to be experimental class and the control class at random.Before the experiment she gives a questionnaire to experimental class in order to obtain the specific data on vocabulary learning from the students,meanwhile a pre-test is conducted to both classes.When experiment is over,students in experimental class answer the questions on the questionnaire again to see the changes in students’ attitudes and interests towards vocabulary learning as well as words’ acquisition,and the post-test is given to both classes.The purpose is to demonstrate that context theory has its practical efficacy on vocabulary learning in senior high school.All the data before and after test were analyzed and processed by SPSS.18.All data were carried out by t test of independent samples and effective analysis was conducted.The experiment shows that the vocabulary memory ability and word guessing ability of the experimental class have been improved,but the control class has not changed significantly,and the vocabulary teaching under the guidance of the context theory improves the students’ interest in vocabulary learning.Therefore,the vocabulary teaching based on context theory has a very positive significance for vocabulary teaching in high school.As a teacher,we should be students-oriented,set up and design some relevant contexts which are beneficial to the vocabulary teaching and learning for the students,and guide the students to learn more efficiently and improve their interest in vocabulary learning.