A Survey Of The Use Of Word Teaching Methods By Junior High School EFL Teachers

With the constant growth of junior high school EFL teaching practice in general,junior high school EFL word teaching practice has made remarkable progress.So far,however,there are still some problems in the use of word teaching methods by junior high school EFL teachers.Meanwhile,with the incessant advance of junior high school EFL teaching research,the study of junior high school EFL word teaching has also made considerable achievements.Up to now,however,the study of the use of word teaching methods by junior high school EFL teachers has not been adequate.In such a setting of teaching practice and research,therefore,the present study intends to,with 60 junior high school EFL teachers from three high schools in China as participants,on the basis of relevant foreign language teaching theories and methods,and through a methodology integrating questionnaire survey,interview,and classroom observation,explore the use of word teaching methods by junior high school EFL teachers in terms of the frequency of the use of different methods,the relationship of the choice of different methods to the teachers’ years of teaching,and the effects of different methods on word learning tasks.To be specific,this study aims to address the following questions:(1)What is the frequency of the use of different word teaching methods by junior high school EFL teachers?(2)What is the relationship between the choice of different word teaching methods and the teachers’ years of teaching?(3)What are the effects of different word teaching methods on word learning tasks?Results generated from the study reveal the following:(1)Word teaching methods involving intuition,mind mapping,lexical chunks and sound,shape and meaning are often used by junior high school EFL teachers;those involving word-formation,synonym,antonyms,context,and interpretation are sometimes used,and those involving game and situation are seldom used.The meta-methods of planning and monitoring are more often used than adjusting.(2)Methods involving game and situation are preferred by teachers with less than one year’s teaching;methods involving intuition,word-formation,context,synonym,and antonyms are preferred by teachers with more than one year’s experience.The meta-method of adjusting is not used by teachers with less than one year’s teaching experience.(3)Methods involving game and situation are effective in word speaking;other methods are effective in word writing.The meta-methods of monitoring and adjusting are effective in word teaching.This study may be practically and academically important.Practically,its findings may help junior high school EFL teachers to improve their use of word teaching methods.Academically,this study may compensate for the inadequate study of the use of word teaching methods by junior high school EFL teachers.