The Effect Of Multimodal Instruction On English Vocabulary Learning In Senior High School

Vocabulary is a fundamental part in learning English and it is especially of great significance for senior high school students who are required to master 3300 words and 400-500 phrases and collocations(National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School[Trial Version],2003).Requirements in the curriculum enlighten us to think how to make our English vocabulary class more attractive and efficient.Multimodal instruction based on multimodal discourse analysis(MDA)is a teaching method in which teachers use various modal resources in classroom to fully activate sensory organs of students to acquire,transfer and receive knowledge.In recent years,it has been applied to the field of English language teaching such as listening,reading and writing classes.But few studies focused on its practice in vocabulary class,especially in senior high school.Thus,the present study attempts to explore the effect of multimodal instruction on English vocabulary learning in senior high school through answering the following three research questions:1.What's the present situation of English vocabulary teaching and learning in senior high school?2.Is multimodal English vocabulary teaching more effective than traditional English vocabulary teaching?If so,what are the effects of multimodal instruction on senior high students' learning of English vocabulary?3.What's students' attitude towards the two English vocabulary teaching modes?The empirical research is carried out for three months in a senior high school in Ankang City,Shaanxi Province.Eighty-seven senior one students from two parallel classes(42 students in the control class,45 students in the experimental class)participate in the experiment.Before the experiment,interview to English teachers and students is carried out to investigate the present situation of vocabulary teaching and learning.During the teaching experiment,the control class remains traditional way of vocabulary teaching while the experimental class is instructed under multimodal English vocabulary teaching.Students' vocabulary performance before and after multimodal instruction is measured through vocabulary tests.Questionnaires are handed out after the experiment to figure out students' attitude to the two English vocabulary teaching modes.Interviews and classroom observation are recorded and discussed.Data of tests and questionnaires are collected and analyzed through statistical analysis software SPSS 17.0.Research results indicate that(1)Currently,English vocabulary teaching is still conducted in traditional way which ignores students' learning motivation and initiative.Meanwhile,students'interest in learning English vocabulary is not very strong and they have various difficulties in vocabulary learning process;(2)multimodal English vocabulary teaching is proved to be more effective in improving senior high students'vocabulary learning than traditional vocabulary teaching in three aspects,including overall vocabulary performance,word knowledge and word use;(3)students hold a positive attitude towards multimodal English vocabulary teaching and they are more likely to choose multimodal English vocabulary teaching rather than traditional English vocabulary teaching.