The teaching methods of English vocabulary

蔡靖怡

Abstract：Language can be compared to as a building with grammar as the structure and vocabulary as the building blocks. The good combination of vocabulary and grammar can help students get command of foreign language by having mutual complementation and interactive reinforcing function in language learning. Students should make great effort on the accumulation of vocabulary with the aim of building a magnificent language edifice.the thesis focus on the looking for the methods on teaching vocabulary.

Key words：language；the importance of vocabulary；methods

Middle school Students should have a total amount of vocabulary of 7000 words required by the ministry of education，which manifests the improvement of language proficiency is based on the accumulation of vocabulary. As teachers，the methods and teaching goal should be clarified first.

1.set clear objectives

Teachers should set well-defined goals within limited memory time；the memory can be retrieved and solidified when specific learning aim is given.

For example，requiring the students to memorize concrete number of English words or recite paragraphs within specific time and being tested immediately. Students will have high concentration for the sake of meeting the requirement；moreover，the memory effect will be highly strengthened since students have strong desire and confidence in achieving great academic performance.

The time- limit memory method cost time and energy，only a minority of students can achieve the learning target at the start，but students will gain remarkable effect gradually after long term training，and develop students potential memory ability and capacity，even students of underachievement will make greater progress as well.

2.time –limit memory should be hierarchical

Time-limit memory effect should be hierarchical due to students discrepancies in the intelligence both intellectual and emotional. So the learning speed and the process of embracing new ideas will be various，teachers should prepare testing methods which accommodating students of different levels needs and learning development.

3.Instant test should be prepared

Teachers should require students to have instant test after time –limit memory，on the one hand，students can be stimulated to memorize the words with intense concentration and maintain a sense of urgency and determination. On the other hand，teachers will get immediate feedback from the students and adjust the teaching methods and plans accordingly.

The testing forms can be carried out in various forms like，Individual quiz，group game，desk mate collaborations，or written examinations，various teaching methods should be applied into examinations. For example：

Letter combination method

The letters of the alphabets are the basic units of the vocabulary，it is unlikely that there is one –to-one correspondence between the letters and phonemes，but the letter combination could match with the corresponding phonemes instead.

Having a good understanding of the vocalic letter groups and consonantal letter groups on the basis of the alphabets will greatly reduce the difficulty memorizing words and prolong the time of obliviousness.

Students should make effort to associate the visual stimulus（letter，graphemes）with the corresponding auditory stimulus（phoneme）to improve memory efficiency；in the meanwhile，the research is also helpful to reveal the fundamental differences between the vocalic and consonantal phonemes，and produce standard pronunciation. The internal association between the pronunciation and spelling will develop students spelling abilities of vocabulary automatically and effortlessly after mastering the method.

For example：

ge change orange sh fish finish

Modern psychology points out that the maintenance of information depends on the capacity of information processing，associated closely with the cognitive structure，and in direct proportion to the depth of processing. Harmonics method，association method，imagination method.. All belong to the deep coding category，which consolidates the semantic association of vocabulary in learners cognitive structure，and large amount of vocabulary will be encoded into permanent memory in coordination with the regular review.

The information processing requires learners careful observation，full association and strong innovation ability to find out the memory rules and shortcuts. Taking advantage of different memory principles and characteristics，memory efficiency will be improved dramatically and the forgetting rate will be reduced accordingly.

Memory is the origin of wisdom，great attention should be focused on the excavating learners memory potential and discovers the memory rules and methods，which will be conducive to the memorization of vocabulary and improve the English proficiency.

References：

[1]蒋争，1998，《英语字根、字首、字尾》.北京：世界图书出版社.

[2]李继民，2000，《英语单词板块分割速记》。山东：山东大学出版社.

[3]陆国强，1999，《现代英语词汇学》.上海：外语教育出版社.