Investigation Into The Problems And Measures Of English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High School

Vocabulary is the basic unit of a language and the focus of English learning.Vocabulary is also the basis for linguistic understanding and expression of ideas,upon which is hinged the development of basic language skills as listening,speaking,reading,writing and translation.Vocabulary plays a vital role in the development of students’ overall language ability.Due to individual differences in the size of vocabulary and the proficiency in vocabulary acquisition and utilization,there exists obvious discrepancies among students in the development of their communicative language ability.For English teachers,vocabulary teaching can help students to build chunks,paragraphs and discourse.Vocabulary teaching is an indispensable part of English teaching.The English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools（2017 Edition,revised in 2020）stipulates higher requirements for high school English vocabulary teaching,which increases the size of vocabulary to be acquired on the part of senior high school students.In addition,students’ ability to utilize vocabulary needs to be improved further.Achieving these targets has put higher requirements on high school English teachers.However,it is found that there are many problems facing high school English vocabulary teaching,which,if not properly addressed,will result in failure to meet the requirements of the above curriculum standards.This paper takes 6 English teachers from 3 senior high schools as the research objects,using the research method of classroom observation.The specifics regarding classroom vocabulary teaching carried by the six teachers are carefully recorded,with notes taken to capture the main points.The audio and video recordings are then transcribed into written form so that they can be studied in detail.Two sessions are recorded for each teacher and altogether twelve recordings and transcriptions are elicited.Based on the new curriculum standards,we study and analyze the relevant theories of vocabulary teaching.Besides,in light of the actual situation of classroom vocabulary teaching,we identify the problems,analyze the factors,and put forward some strategies and suggestions for optimization and improvement.In short,the present paper mainly addresses the following two problems:（1）What are the problems existing in English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools?（2）What are the causes of the problems in senior high school English vocabulary teaching?Through the classroom observation of the current situation of English vocabulary teaching by 6 English teachers from 3 senior high schools,some common problems in senior high school English vocabulary teaching are identified as follows.（1）Some teachers view vocabulary teaching as a once-and-for-all task,explaining too much and too deep in a single attempt.（2）Vocabulary teaching is viewed as an independent act,which is conducted in isolation from context.（3）Teachers devote more time to monotonous explanation of individual words while failing to make full use of the lexical-chunk method in vocabulary teaching.（4）Teachers are unable to give full play to the semantic field approach to vocabulary teaching,leading to unsatisfactory results in expanding their students’ vocabulary.（5）Teachers fail to integrate effective vocabulary teaching methods,some of which are far-fetched.（6）In most cases,Chinese is the main medium of instruction in vocabulary teaching,making target language input insufficient.（7）The evaluation methods of vocabulary teaching are yet to be diversified,with some being too conventional.By analyzing the reasons behind the problems in senior high school English vocabulary teaching,this paper mainly puts forwards the following suggestions for English vocabulary teaching in senior high school classrooms.First,teachers should update their own teaching ideas,study the curriculum standards carefully,and improve their professional competence.Second,teachers should cultivate their students’ key competence in English learning,make all-out efforts to ensure continuous innovation of vocabulary teaching methods,and carry out vocabulary teaching activities based on context.Third,teachers should pay attention to cultivating students’ communicative language ability.For example,teachers can use such teaching methods as lexical chunks and semantic fields to help students expand their vocabulary and guide them to learn effectively.At the same time,in classroom English teaching,teachers should maximize the target language input,create more favorable language learning environment for students,and improve students’ ability to use language in context in order to enhance the quality of English vocabulary teaching.Due to the limitations of the present study,there are still many places to be improved and optimized in this paper.The author hopes to attract full attention of senior high school English teachers to the importance of vocabulary teaching.On the basis of inheriting the advantages of traditional vocabulary teaching methods,teachers should actively try innovative teaching methods to improve English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools.