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1、On English Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Chinese Classroom Abstract: Learning vocabulary is a complex process which involves not only which words to learn but also how to learn them. Consequently, learning strategies are of great significance to learners, which will facilitate them to learn voca
2、bulary more effectively. For Chinese students, based on the features of vocabulary learning and learner characteristics, this paper will first discuss some general vocabulary teaching principles and factors affecting the effectiveness of learning strategies. And then many Vocabulary strategies will
3、be proposed and discussed. Keywords: vocabulary, L2 (second language or foreign language), teaching principles, vocabulary learning strategies 1. Introduction In the last few decades, the field of L2 (in this paper I will use L2 for both second language and foreign language) acquisition has seen the
4、 reemergence of interest in one area of language study, vocabulary, and the appearance of newly recognized-learner strategies. Many studies and researches have been made on L2 language vocabulary teaching and the results suggest that active management of vocabulary learning strategies leads to a bet
5、ter command of vocabulary and beneficial backwash. However, there is a noticeable lack of attention, especially with few strategies for particular language students. This paper will deal with English vocabulary learning strategies in Chinese classroom. 2. Principles for teaching vocabulary Teaching
6、vocabulary is clearly more than just presenting new words, it is also necessary to decide what words to be selected for teaching, how to present them, how to sequence them and how to consolidate them. Is there any way in which we can encourage students to really learn a word? Wang Duqin (2002) offer
7、ed several key principles that should guide the creation and implication of vocabulary teaching for Chinese teachers.1).The instruction process can be divided into three stages: presenting the new word meanings, practicing using the words, and testing the words. For the first two stages, we can find
8、 a lot of effective techniques in Allens book Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. In the first stage, teachers can make use of techniques like using real objects, pictures, explanations, definitions, actions, contextualization, and questions and so on. When practicing using the words, teachers had be
9、tter offer various kinds of activities and exercises for students to do. In the third stage, teachers are required to give students sufficient number of tests so as to check and consolidate what they have learned and provide a basis for planning and learning program either for the class or for the i
10、ndividual learners. 2). In the case of selecting vocabulary for teaching, it is suggested to choose the words which are of interest, curiosity, and expectation, which are related to students experiences, which contextualized and which are of high frequency. It should be noted here that teacher somet
11、imes need to make an extra effort on some low frequency words in the text books and important fashion words which students can hardly find in their text books.3). Teachers are required to provide various kinds of activities (listening, speaking, reading, writing or a combination of these) for studen
12、ts to practice using the words as often as possible.4). To develop students own control and evaluation of their learning, teachers should teach students how to make use of various kinds of resources (books, magazines, newspapers, movies, etc.) to test themselves how they have learned and then decide
13、 the further learning program. 3. Factors influencing the effectiveness of vocabulary learning strategies When considering which strategies to recommend to our students, we should remember Politizer and Mc Groartys (1985) warning that strategies should not be considered inherently good, but are depe
14、ndent on the context in which they are used. Thus, the effectiveness with which learning strategies can be taught and used will depend on a number of variables, including proficiency level, task, text, language modality and background knowledge, context of learning, target language and learner chara
15、cteristics (Chamot and Rubiin, 1994: 772). For vocabulary, culture is another learner characteristic which has been shown to be important. Different culture groups sometimes have quite different opinions on the usefulness of various vocabulary strategies. Whats more, the frequency of occurrence of a
16、 word is also relevant. High frequency words are so essential and no doubt deserve more effort on them, but low frequency words will not be met often enough and so they deserve individual explicit instruction. 4. Vocabulary learning strategies in the classroom Once the factors affecting the choosing
17、 of vocabulary learning strategies has been made clear, the next step is to choose a comprehensive and scientific system of strategies for students. In practice, it is very difficult to decide where to draw the line between different strategies and their numerous variations. A classification system
18、of learning strategies was suggested by Cook and Mayer (1983) and Nation (1990), which is proved more basic but still helpful (Schmitt and Mccarthy, 2002:216). They categorized the strategies into two types, namely, Discovery Strategies and Consolidation Strategies. 4.1 Discovery Strategies When enc
19、ountering a word for the first time, students often use their knowledge of the language, contextual clues, or reference materials to figure out the new meaning, or ask someone else. These strategies for gaining initial information about a new word are called Discovery Strategies. They can be categor
20、ized in the following two types: 4.1.1 Determination strategies If students do not know a word, they have to decide which strategy to choose for the problem. There are four possible options for them to solve their problem.1). Guessing the meaning from word part formation such as, derivation, compoun
21、ding, conversion, abbreviation, backformation, etc. ; 2). Guessing the meaning from a L1 or L2 word similar in sound or meaning (e.g. loaned words from Chinese like kungfu, Confucius, Taoist, etc.);3). Guessing the meaning from context (It is necessary to note that context here should be taken to me
22、an more than just textual context, context clues can also come from a variety of other sources such as pictures, cards, gestures, intonations and so on ); 4). Guessing the meaning from reference materials (primarily dictionaries). 4.1.2 Social strategies A second way to discover a new word meaning e
23、mploys the social strategies of asking someone who knows. Teachers are often in this position, and they can be asked to give help in a variety of ways: giving the L1 translation, giving a synonym, giving an antonym, giving a definition by paraphrase, using the word in sentence, or any combination of
24、 these. Of course, classmates and friends also can be asked for meaning in all of ways above. 4.2 Consolidation Strategies Once students have been introduced to a new word, it is worthwhile to make some effort to remember it using some consolidate strategies. It is necessary to state clear here that
25、 in reality almost all of the Discovery Strategies could be used as Consolidation Strategies, but only the most obvious are listed in both sections such as the utilization of word lists and affixes and roots. In the following passages we will introduce and discuss other eight types of Consolidate St
26、rategies. 4.2.1 Social strategies Besides the initial discovery of a word, group work can be used to learn or practice vocabulary. Cooperative learning can prepare the participants for team activities. Another social strategy involves students enlisting teachers to check their work for accuracy. Of
27、course, if possible, interacting with native speakers would be an excellent way to gain vocabulary. 4.2.2 Memory strategies Most Memory strategies (traditionally called mnemonics) involve relating the word to be retained with some previously learned knowledge, using some form of imagery, grouping, o
28、r actions (Coady and Huckin, 2001: 203 - 20). Four options are proposed here. 1). Using the keyword methods: finding a L1 word or phrase with similar sound or spelling, and constructing a visual image that ties the word or phrase to the target word, e.g., while learning the word deny in English, a s
29、imilar sound word in Chinese dinai will occur to the learner. 2). Studying a words affixes, root and word class. 3). Learning the individual word meanings in more meaningful context such as a phrase, a idiom or a proverb. 4). Using semantic feature grids. 4.2.3 Pictures / imagery New words can be le
30、arned by studying them with pictures of their meanings or creating their own mental images of a words meaning. They can also be associated with a particular vivid personal experience, for example, a learner mentally connects the word snow to a memory of playing in the snow while he /she was a child.
31、 4.2.4 Related words New words can be linked to other words which the students already know, such as coordination (apples- other kinds of fruits like pears, bananas, peaches etc.), synonym (pleased - glad / happy / joyful), or antonym (quick - slow). Some words, particularly gradable adjectives, hav
32、e meanings relative to the other words in their set. For example, a helpful way to remember the words big, huge, medium-size, etc. is to set them in a scale (huge big medium-sized small tinny). 4.2.5 Rhyme / rhythm Making up songs or short ditties with the words to learn is of great interest and a h
33、igh efficiency way of gaining new words. For example, One is a pen, two is a duck, three is an ear, four is a flag etc. 4.2.6 Categorization Categorization (also known as grouping) is an important way to recall, and people often organize words into group naturally according to meaning, part of speec
34、h, formal or informal language forms, alphabetical order, or types of clothing, food, and so on. 4.2.7 Cognitive strategies Cognitive strategies refer to using the techniques of repetition and mechanical means to study vocabulary. Written and verbal repetition, repeatedly writing or saying a word ov
35、er and over again is common strategies among students. In practice, word lists and flashcards are often used because they create logical grouping and are convenient to carry anywhere. Another kind of cognitive strategy is using study aids such as taking notes, accessing to Internet, or making a tape
36、 of recording of word lists for studying. 4.2.8 Metacognitive strategies Metacognitive strategies are used by students to control and evaluate their own learning by having an overview of the learning process in general. The pervasiveness of English-medium books, magazines, newspapers and movies offe
37、r an almost endless resource. Besides, the strategy of interacting with native speakers and self-testing also increase input. In practice, one can maximize the effectiveness of ones practice time if it is scheduled and organized rather than random. However, learners need to realize that they will ne
38、ver learn all the words and so they should concentrate their limited resources on learning the most useful ones and pass over some unknown words particularly when the main goal is to improve reading speed rather than vocabulary growth. 5. Conclusion Above all, students need to know how to learn voca
39、bulary. In this sense, teachers should teach students various kinds of learning strategies in classroom instruction of vocabulary. However, teachers should also realize that students should be encouraged to seek the ways they find most helpful since their vocabulary possession is very personal and t
40、heir abilities to exploit its elasticity are very individual. Some make lists and memorize them; some make associations with words that sound or look similar in Chinese; some read a great deal; some write down words in short contexts; some read dictionaries. In short, students should not be forced t
41、o learn in ways they find unappealing or personally unsatisfying if the ultimate goal is to develop their autonomous long-term vocabulary learning strategies. Through teachers consistent effort, we anticipate that students can develop their own strategy use and become more effective learners. Refere
42、nces Allen,V. F. 2002. Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Chamot, A. U. and J. Rubin. 1994. Comments on Janie Rees Millers A critical apprasaisal of learner training: Theoretical base and teaching implications. Two readers reactTESOL Quarterly 28 (
43、4): 771-6.Coady, J. and T. Huckin (Eds.). 2001. Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Cook, L. K. and R. E. Mayer. 1983. Reading strategies training for meaningful learning from prose. In M. Pressley and J. Levin (Eds.) Cognitive strategy researc
44、h. New York: Spring Verlag.Nation, L. S. P. 1990. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.Politizer, R. and M. McGroarty. 1985. An exploratory study for learning behaviors and their relationship to gains in linguistic and communicative competence. TESOL Quarterly 19:103-23.Schmitt,
45、 N. and McCarthy, M. (Eds.) 2002. Vocabulary: description, acquisition and pedagogy. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Wang Duqin. 2002. English Teaching Strategies. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.生命列车The Train Of Life1. 不久以前，我读了一本书。书中把人生比作一次旅行。2. 人生一世，就好比是一次
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