A Study On The Effectiveness Of Lexical Approach In English Writing Teaching In Senior High School

Michael Lewis first proposed lexical approach in 1993.According to Lewis,language is not composed of traditional grammar and vocabulary,but consists of lexical chunks.Lexical chunks are a kind of multi-word lexical phenomenon,which are between vocabulary and grammar.They have certain pragmatic and grammatical functions and are relatively fixed in form.Researches have shown that the proper use of lexical chunks in English writing not only contributes to reducing the negative influence of the mother tongue,improves the accuracy and authenticity of language expression but also helps increase the writing fluency.Therefore,the study attempts to apply the lexical approach into writing teaching,aiming to explore the effect of lexical approach on senior high school students' writing accuracy,fluency and complexity.Specifically,the study proposes the following three research questions:(1)What is the effect of lexical approach on senior high school students' writing accuracy?(2)What is the effect of lexical approach on senior high school students' writing fluency?(3)What is the effect of lexical approach on senior high school students' writing complexity?The experiment is conducted in two parallel classes of Senior Two of Runde School in Shijiazhuang.In the experimental class,the teacher introduces lexical approach,attaches importance to cultivating students' awareness of lexical chunks and guides students to identify,consolidate,accumulate and apply lexical chunks.In the control class,the teacher adopts the traditional teaching method without emphasizing lexical chunks.The participants take part in the writing tests before and after the experiment.The software L2 SCA is used to calculate the accuracy,fluency and complexity,and then the data are analyzed by the SPSS.Data results indicate that the writing accuracy and fluency of students in the experimental class have been improved significantly.Compared with the control class,the number of error free T-units in the experimental class is higher,which means that students make less mistakes in their compositions.The mean length of the compositions is longer than that of the control class.However,there is no significant improvement in the lexical complexity and syntactic complexity in the experimental class.The development of writing complexity is a dynamic and complex process.Compared with accuracy and fluency,the increase in complexity takes longer.It is hoped that this study can offer some references for future writing teaching.For example,teachers should pay attention to cultivate students' awareness of lexical chunks and improve their ability to identify lexical chunks.They should strengthen the guidance to students' lexical chunks learning strategies and attach importance to developing their autonomous learning ability.It is necessary for teachers to apply lexical approach into all aspects of writing teaching and maximize the promotion of lexical approach to English teaching.