English Vocabulary Teaching In Senior High Schools

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

情境教学法在高中英语词汇中的有效性研究

摘要 根据《国家英语新课程标准》要求，高中毕业生要求掌握单词达3,500个左右，这对高中英语词汇的学习与教学都提出了更为严峻的挑战。如何有效地帮助高中生成功地学习与获得英语词汇也成了教育界一个重要的研究课题。本文旨在通过定量研究的方法对高一级学生进行实验研究，并分析其结果，证明情境教学法在高中英语词汇教学中的有效性与可行性，从而更加肯定情境教学法对高中英语词汇教学的积极作用，提高其采用率，帮助我国英语学习者提高英语词汇掌握水平。

关键词 新课标; 高中; 英语词汇; 定量研究; 情境教学法

Effectiveness of Situational Approach in English Vocabulary Teaching in Senior High Schools

广州大学外国语学院09级英语专业03班

学生姓名：冯梦思 学号0907010177

指导老师：温晋方

Abstract According to the New National English Curriculum, Chinese students in senior high school are required to master about 3,500 English words up to their graduation. The larger number of vocabulary has posed a more serious challenge for students to acquire and teachers to teach English. Therefore, it has become a significant research subject that how to help senior high schools students to learn, store and grasp English vocabulary efficiently and effectively. In order to explore the effectiveness and feasibility of situational approach in English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools, in this paper, the author discussed and analyzed the results of an experiment taken among some students of a senior high school based on the quantitative method. And it is expected to confirm more positive effect of situational approach on English vocabulary teaching and do a greater favor to English learners in China by more application.

Key words The New National English Curriculum; senior high schools; English vocabulary; the quantitative method; the situational approach

1. Introduction

1.1 Motivation for the study

For one thing, as we all know, English as a global communication instrument has been widely used in the world, including a great number of developing countries and poorly developed countries. China, as a rapid developing country, since it joined World Trade Organization in 2001 has built a strong connection with other countries in the world in many aspects. Therefore, it is necessary for everyone in China to learn and grasp well this global communication instrument. In addition, vocabulary is considered as one of most important components of English language and even we can say that "vocabulary is to a language what bricks are to a building" according to候怀澎(2011：11）. Only when we master a large enough vocabulary can we express ourselves and understand others correctly and freely in communication.

For another thing, set a higher requirement by the National English Curriculum formulated by Ministry of Education in 2001, Chinese students in senior high school are required to master about 3,000 English words and 400~500 idioms or phrases up to their graduation (陈琳，王蔷，成晓堂, 2003). What’s worse, although Chinese senior school students have been speeding a mount of time and energy in English vocabulary learning in a long time they still fail to store and grasp them effectively under the traditional teaching method. Now such larger number of vocabulary certainly has posed a more serious challenge for students to acquire and teachers to teach English. Therefore, how to help senior high school students to learn, store and grasp English vocabulary efficiently and effectively has become a significant and urgent task for every school and English teacher. The author, as a normal student and likely-future English teacher, has an intense interest to study a more effective teaching approach which can help students acquire English vocabulary well.

1.2 Purpose of the study

As a matter of fact, in despite of being aware of the importance of vocabulary without which they would have many difficulties and troubles in English skills, namely reading, writing, listening and speaking, but a great quantity of senior students still lack of interest in English vocabulary learning or are rewarded little in their words’ memory after hard-working. As for as senior students are concerned, they suffer great boredom and tedium in their English class for their teacher guilds them by traditional method which can not arouse their attention and interest. Nevertheless, in the meanwhile yet some senior high schools have acquired gratifying fruits in English vocabulary teaching and one of the reasons is that they adopt new methods in class, such as Situational Approach. Therefore, this paper will discuss and demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of situational approach in English vocabulary teaching in senior high schools through an experimental research based on the quantitative method.

2. Literature review

2.1 The study of English Vocabulary Teaching (EVT)

2.1.1 The study of EVT in foreign countries

In the early times, Grammar-Translation Method was mainly adopted to teach English vocabulary in the class and became most prevalent in 1960s. Grammar-Translation Method, which was characterized by the teacher’s teaching and explaining words and grammar learned by rote by students, focused on the study of the grammar and vocabulary’s meaning. Therefore, to some extent, learning English was equivalent to learning vocabulary (王志青,韩云,刘东彪, 2007). Under this teaching model, the teacher became the dominator in the class while students passively accepted knowledge, learning vocabulary only by reciting words’ meanings superficially and tediously. In addition, students’ communication skills could not be trained effectively and poor indeed at that time.

However, gradually with the increasing contact among European countries people attached more importance to language communication and the Communicative Teaching Approach came forth in seventies and eighties of the 20th century. And it played a revolutionary role in the development of English teaching. Aiming to cultivate the students’ communicative competence, the Communicative Teaching Approach put vocabulary to the core position in communicative process. Indeed people could not express themselves and exchange their ideas successfully without vocabulary. Nevertheless, very coin has its two sides. Although Communicative Teaching Approach admitted the significance of vocabulary in communication yet the teacher did not pay more enough attention to it. After all, as for the Communicative Teaching Approach, acquiring vocabulary was not its final goal but a means to complete a communicative activity (王志青,韩云,刘东彪, 2007). Compared with the bottom-up model in Grammar–Translation Method, the Communicative Teaching Approach advocated the top-down model, in which the teacher would focus more on general meaning of a conversation partly from contextual clues or background information and as usual, they should encourage students to guess new words’ meaning according the context and even always ignore them because sometimes there are too many new words and the contents are restricted. For this reason, students could not learn and acquire enough basic vocabulary under the Communicative Teaching Approach. According to 陈文艳 (2006) vocabulary is the key to understanding and expression. Only when we master enough vocabulary even if English learners don’t obtain little grammar can they still understand and express themselves in English well. Therefore, at that, in spite of the Communicative Teaching Approach, there are many other approaches which emphasize the importance of vocabulary learning, such as Natural Approach and Suggestopedia.

Vocabulary teaching has developed more rapidly than ever before since 1990s when lots of experts and scholars did many researches and experiment in vocabulary teaching and published a great number of influential works. For instance, Hatch and Brown (qtd. in蔡晓红2011) stressed the designed vocabulary teaching in the chapter 16 of Vocabulary, Semantics and Language Education. And in Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition the author Coady and Huckin (2001)mainly studied the problems in vocabulary teaching in the second language teaching. Professor Allen (2002) probed into the teaching techniques in vocabulary class in the none-native language course in Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Besides, Wallace (1982) proposed some flexible method for vocabulary teaching. For example, the teacher could explain words or encourage students to guess their sense according to the situation or the context. In fact, in recent years, vocabulary has been widely applied into kinds of varieties of fields including cognitive psychology, second language acquisition theory and cognitive linguistic theory and as a consequence did the study of vocabulary teaching.

2.1.2 The study of EVT in China

In the early times English vocabulary teaching has been influenced by linguistic theory in western countries and also there were little important works about its study. From Grammar-Translation Method to the Audio-lingual Method, vocabulary teaching was concentrated on teaching grammar, structures and functions while vocabulary study was always positioned in subordinate status. Although the Communicative Teaching Approach has sprung up since seventies of the 20th century in foreign countries and our country had attempted to adopt this method in the English class. However, owing to absence from the real English language environment in daily life, the real communication could not be put into practice out of English class. That is to say, vocabulary teaching was still based on explaining grammar and reciting words.

Up to the middle of 80s, the first English vocabulary monograph, Introduction to Modern English Vocabulary Learning came out and made a great contribution to English vocabulary teaching in out countries (陆国强，2001 qtd. in蔡晓红2011). Since 90s, as the constant reform English teaching has gone, vocabulary teaching has been attached more importance and more and more experts, scholars and the front-line teachers have done all kinds of researches into vocabulary teaching and achieved fruitfully according to the number of related collections in China Knowledge Resources Library (CNKI) in which there are about 7,130 works about English vocabulary teaching from 1993 to 2013. But, in fact, from the perspective of the classification of subject, the majorities of collections are about vocabulary teaching in universities, while the minorities of those focus on elementary education, such as only 831for senior high school and 671 for junior high school as well 215 for primary school.

To sum up, domestic researches on English vocabulary teaching has slightly reached some scale and made fruitful achievement in theoretical research, which for one thing absorbed into the least linguistic teaching theories from foreign countries and for another thing has been combined with actual situation of domestic students. Nevertheless, for our country did vocabulary teaching research later than many foreign countries and researcher are most professors and scholars in universities, so relatively there are more and richer researches about universities vocabulary teaching while fewer for elementary education. For these reasons, in my paper, an experiment in senior English vocabulary teaching will be discussed and analyzed and consequently the conclusion is expected to promote English vocabulary teaching.

2.2 The theory of Situational Approach (SA) in senior high schools

2.2.1 Definition of SA

Situational teaching is a teaching method that teacher rates a harmonious language environment intentionally with various teaching aids in terms of teaching content and guides students in a whole understanding and using of language but teacher’s language, movement, expression and posture.

2.2.2 The development of SA at home and abroad

2.2.2.1 The development of SA in foreign countries

The concept of situational teaching was first put forward in Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning in 1989 by Brown, Collin and Duguid (1989) and they think that only in its situation in which knowledge is created and applied to practice, can knowledge be meaningful. Knowledge can not be isolated with situation and the best way to learn is learning in situation. Besides, Dewey, an American great educator, also insist that situation should be created in teaching and the teaching plan be made in accord with teaching aim based on situation. (杜威,1994 qtd. 蔡晓红2011). Dewey has made great progress for situation teaching in aspects of both theory and practice. Since constructivism appeared in the late 1970s, it has laid a more solid root for situational teaching because, in general, constructivists think learners acquire knowledge not simply from their teachers but by reconstructing its meanings based on specific situation with the help of their teacher and classmates. As a matter of fact, more and more researches indicate that knowledge acquiring in specific situation is more powerful and useful than the ordinary one (CTGV, 1993 qtd. 蔡晓红2011). From the middle of 1980s up to now, as the situation cognition and situation learning theory developed, situational teaching in foreign countries has become perfect and improved.

2.2.2.2 The development of SA in China

As is known to all, in ancient times in China, Mencius mother moved three times and cut weaving cloth to school Mencius well, which was a typical example of situational teaching. In recent period, there many experts, scholars and teachers have done a lot of theoretical studies and researches on situation teaching. Among of them, a special-grade Chinese teacher in Normal Second Affiliated Elementary School in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Li Jilin, have made a distinguished and remarkable achievement in situational teaching. The monograph named Situational Teaching and Research is her remarkable work about situational teaching and it brought about a new situation in China（程敏，2008）. As far as she’s concerned, as the starting point of situational teaching both in theoretical and practical, situation is the core of this teaching method. The teacher should try their best to combine all kinds of active and specific life situation with teaching for courses in the class, in this way the boring theory knowledge would turn into interesting and lovely life. In the meanwhile, Situational Teaching Approach provided a way to involve and participant into their reality for students（李吉林，1997）.Soon, Li’s situational teaching theory was applied into various course, including English course, and lay a theoretical foundation for the development of situational teaching. In recent years, more and more application of Situational Teaching Approach in English classroom has been investigated and more and more empirical research, such as the experimental research, carried out in high schools. For example, in A Survey on the Application of Situational Language Teaching in Senior High English Classroom Teaching the author (赖萍, 2101) investigated and studied the problem caused by Situational Teaching Approach in senior high English classroom and its measures to solve the problems.

3. Research questions and hypothesis

3.1 Research questions

1) Can the application of situational approach in class arouse students’ interest in English learning?

2) Can the application of situational approach in class create more relaxing atmosphere in English class for their teacher and students?

3) Can the application of situational approach in class have a positive effect on students’ English vocabulary and English learning ability?

3.2 Hypothesis

1) The application of situational approach in class can arouse students’ interest in English learning.

2) The application of situational approach in class can create more relaxing atmosphere in English class for their teacher and students.

3) The application of situational approach in class can have a positive effect on students’ English vocabulary and English learning ability.

4. The design of the experiment

4.1 Basic information about the experiment

Objective: Appling situational teaching in English classroom in senior school, the experiment aims at the effectiveness and feasibility of situational teaching approach in senior school.

Participants: Participants of this experiment are two classes’ students from Yangjiang Tongxin Senior High School in Guangdong Province, and some English teachers in this school. There are fifty students in each class with similar English level and one of class is the control class and the other the experimental one.

Instrument: The textbook using by the teachers in this experiment is New Senior English for China Student’s Book 1 and 2 published in People’s Education Press.

Cycle: The experiment lasted for one whole term from September in 2012 to January in 2013.

4.2 Research method

Aiming at the validity and feasibility of situational teaching in English vocabulary in senior high school, the whole thesis mainly employ the literature review researching method for the part of theory and the quantitative researching method for the part of the experiment.

1) Literature researching method: With respect to relevant literature review about vocabulary teaching and situational teaching at home and abroad, the thesis collects lots of literatures, evidences and background information to make the study easier understood.

2) Quantitative researching method: Its aim is to measure the effectiveness of the experiment operated as the following. Two classes are used to undertake the experiment. One class is the control class whose English vocabulary is taught by the traditional teaching method and the other is the experimental class taught in situational teaching approach in English class. A pre-test was carried out before the experiment to find whether students’ English level between two classes is similar. A post-test was given after the experiment, intending to confirm the effect of the experiment.

4.3 Procedures

4.3.1 The pre-test

The pre-test was used in each of two classes before the experiment to find whether there was any difference in English level between the control class and the experimental class because the similarity of their English level was required in the experiment.

The test paper was designed seriously and considerately by several senior English teachers in Tongxin Senior High School in accord with knowledge that students had learned before and their English level.

4.3.2 The post-test

The post-test was carried out in two classes respectively after one-term-long experiment for the purpose of effect of the situational teaching approach in the experiment.

The test paper also was designed by several senior English teachers in Tongxin Senior High School according to knowledge that students had learned before in particularly during the period of experiment.

4.3.3 The experimental research

In order to ensure the effect of the experiment, despite different teaching methods taken in two class, one of which, the traditional teaching was carried in while situational teaching approach in the control class, mostly any others things were under the control, including the same English teacher, the same textbook——New Senior English for China Student’s Book 1 and 2, the similar students’ English level, the same test papers and the same period of experiment.

The students’ scores of two classes acquired in the pre-test and the post-test will be contrasted and analyzed in order to find the obvious differences before two tests in two respectively. That is to say, the situational teaching approach will have a positive effect on the English class and the experiment will make more apparent progress in English vocabulary learning.

5. Analysis of the data

In this section, the data of the experiment will be analyzed based on the principle of t-test and the effectiveness of the experiment will be discussed.

5.1 Analysis of the data of the pre-test

Before the experiment, the pre-test has been taken in two classes respectively to determine the English vocabulary level between the control class and the experimental class with the same students’ number of fifty. And the result of t-test for the pre-test has been showed in the table 1.

Table 1 for the pre-test

Number

Mean

SD

t

p

Control

50

72.90

18.2745

-0.2873

0.3872

Experimental

50

73.92

17.2032

As can be seen in the table 1, the number of students of two classes is the same to fifty. The level of mean of the control class is 72.90 while that of the experimental class is 73.92, and P is 0.3872, statistically not significant difference more than 0.05 level. Therefore, for this reason, we can conclude there is little significant difference in the English vocabulary level between the control class and the experimental class.

5.2 Analysis of the dada of the post-test

Because it is sure that there is no any significant difference between the two classes in pre-test, in this part, the t-test will be carried out in the post-test for the two classes after experiment, so as to prove effectiveness of the experiment, that is, situational teaching has a positive effect on the English vocabulary in senior school. The result of the t-test for the post-test is been showed the following table 2.

Table 2 for the post-test

Number

Mean

SD

t

p

Control

50

74.63

17.9766

-2.2562

0.0131

Post-test

50

82.96

18.9308

In the table 2, the most remarkable change we should noticed is that, compared with the pre-test they have similar level of mean, in the post-test, the level of mean of the experimental class (82.96) is more 8 point or so than that of the control class (74.63), with 0.0131 p-level which means significant difference at less than 0.05 level. So, it is concluded that the experiment show an active effect on the experimental class and situational teaching has a positive on English vocabulary teaching in senior school.

5.3 Summary

After the analyses for the table 1 and the table 2 we can get to the following summary.

First of all, in the English class taught with situation teaching approach, students are more interested and more active to take part in the activities according to the response of their English teacher, which does a great favor in lovely and vivid class atmosphere for students and teacher. As we all know, cycling in these cases, active attitude means vivid atmosphere, and both of them will bring advance in the English achievement.

Besides, as a matter of fact, from the results we can make a statement that situational teaching approach is effectual and proves to be a positive teaching method in English vocabulary in senior school because students in experimental class are can make greater progress in English vocabulary learning than those in the control class taught by the traditional teaching method.

Therefore, in summary, the application of situational teaching in class not only can arouse students’ interest in English learn and create a more relaxing atmosphere for the teacher and students, but also can improve their English vocabulary level, so, in this way, the hypotheses in part 3.2 have been demonstrated smoothly and successfully.

6. Discussion

For one thing, although the experiment is completely carried out and the positive effect of situational teaching approach is successfully verified, there are still some defects during the experiment.

Firstly, in the experiment, although all important things are under the author’s control and the author often get touch with the teacher of the two classes for progress, in fact, because of the long distance from the experiment field, Tongxin Senior High School, and the long experiment time the author can not frequently get to the classrooms for more information about different response respectively in the control class and the experimental class. Therefore, some important or unimportant details are likely to be missed.

Secondly, it is undeniable that there were some factors which effected English class negatively and could be eliminated, such as students emotion, personality and whether, and so on. Those factors might bring some influence on the result of the experiment.

For another thing, actually situational teaching approach has been advocated to use in English class long before, rare English teachers can make it to the end, especially in vocabulary teaching, owing to limited time, too many teaching tasks, students’ level or other reasons, and instead, they prefer the traditional method, such as grammar-translation method. As far as I’m concerned, it is a great pity not to widely use situational approach in English vocabulary. Indeed, not only from my experiment but also many other experts’ studies, can situational teaching approach has a great positive effect on English vocabulary.

7. Conclusion

On one hand, in summary of the thesis, the most important point is that the effectiveness and feasibility of situational teaching approach is verified based on the quantitative research method in an experiment carried out in Yangjiang Tongxin Senior High School. The control class taught by traditional teaching method and the experimental class by situational teaching approach are involved. The results of the pre-test and the post-test respectively conducted in two classes were tested and analyzed scientifically by t-test, finding that situational teaching approach has a positive effect on vocabulary teaching in senior school. In the process of the experiment, comparing the atmosphere and effect in those two classes, it is found that learning in the experimental class is more relaxing and interesting because the teacher frequently create real life situation or fictitious situation in class. In meanwhile, students in experiment are active and interested in activities and questions in class.

On the other hand, with regard to the theories, the thesis also has done some researches on the development of English vocabulary teaching and situational teaching at home and abroad. The author surprisingly found that the theoretical achievements both of them are rather rich and lots of experts, scholars and teacher have paid large attention to situational teaching and English vocabulary teaching. However, the author also found that, in fact, the achievement of the application of situational teaching approach in English vocabulary in senior schools is not optimistic and there were a few of senior schools in which English teachers would apply situational teaching approach in English vocabulary.

Last, in the thesis it is firmly make a conclusion that situational teaching approach does a positive effect on the English vocabulary in senior schools. As far as the author’s concerned, situational teaching approach can be widely applied to English vocabulary teaching in senior school and do a great favor to students’ acquisition of English vocabulary.