A Study On The Application Of Phonics Instruction In Primary School English Vocabulary Teaching

As the basis of language learning,vocabulary plays an important role in English teaching and learning,especially in primary school English classes.According to the New English Curriculum for Chinese Primary School,students should learn and master600 to 700 words and around 50 expressions;they should know that words are formed by letters,and should acquire basic knowledge of spelling rules during the primary school period.Vocabulary is apparently a vital factor in English learning.However,in current vocabulary teaching,teachers in primary schools tend to focus on the meaning of new words and expression.They tend to emphasize mechanical exercises and rote memory tasks,without paying much attention to the relationship of word spelling and pronunciation.As a result,many students cannot read the words immediately when seeing them,even though they have learned English for years.Phonics instruction is one of the methods to help students acquire the spelling rules through learning pronunciations rules of the alphabet and monograms.This thesis aims to explore whether phonics instruction can exert a positive influence on vocabulary teaching in primary school.The author expects to answer three questions: 1)Can phonics instruction improve students’ accuracy of word pronunciation? 2)Can phonics instruction improve students’ accuracy of word spelling? 3)Can phonics instruction stimulate pupils’ interest of English learning?The researcher chose 100 pupils in two average classes(each class has 50students)in Grade 3 in a public primary school in Chengguan District,Lanzhou City,Gansu Province.Based on the same teaching material,New Start,PEP version,classes will be taught by taking phonics instructions to the experimental class,while the other class will be taught in the traditional way without phonics instruction.Before the research,students of both classes will be asked to finish a questionnaire and get their testing scores in words spelling before,during and after the research.Based on these data,the author will analyze pupils’ understanding of phonics instruction and the results of testing.The results of the research show that students in the experimentalgroup take more interests in English class than the students in the control group,which helps students to have more confidence in word spelling and writing.So the experiments do stimulate the interest in English learning.The author of this thesis believes that phonics instructions exert a positive effect on vocabulary teaching in primary school.This result brings up some inspirations: phonics instructions is effective in stimulating primary school students’ interest in English learning;teachers in primary school should make attempts in improving professional knowledge and teaching method in order to give more innovative and effective vocabulary teaching to students.