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1、A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Among Middle School Students Thesis Statement If students can enlarge the vocabulary effectively, their interest of English can be aroused and their learning efficiency can be improved. Abstract This paper discuses middle school learners strategies in learni
2、ng of vocabulary .The vocabulary, an integral part of language, plays an important role in the process of learning language. So middle school English learners must acquire a large number of vocabularies. Then, how to acquire vocabulary efficiency ? The strategies study in this paper includes direct
3、and indirect strategies of enlarging vocabulary and the five steps of vocabulary learning are helpful for middle school learners. If the learners can learn these strategies of acquiring vocabulary easily. Of course, if the middle school learners can realize the features of vocabulary and know that t
4、hey are complicated and the vocabulary of English language is very large. Various occupations and disciplines have their specialized vocabularies, they can acquire vocabulary effectively. At the same time, proper strategies on guiding middle school learners to acquire vocabulary are also important.
5、Therefore, in English language learning, the middle school learners must attach importance to all kinds of guidance in this paper on acquiring vocabulary including the guidance of guessing words and using reference books and dictionaries and other guidance. Much attention should be paid to the train
6、ing of the learners ability to learn and to use English. Vocabulary training should be reinforced in order that students can pronounce a word correctly and understand its meaning well. If the students master the way to remember the words in a simple but scientific way, they can enlarge vocabulary ef
7、fectively, their learning interest can be generated and learning efficiency can be improved. Key word: study; middle school learner; vocabulary 摘要：本文研究的是中学生学习英语词汇的技巧的问题。词汇是语言学习的一个重 要组成部分。因此，中学英语学习者必须要掌握大量的词汇。那么，如何有效地学 习和掌握英语单词呢？本文中提到的扩大词汇量的直接法、间接法和五步学习法等 几种学习技巧，对中学生是有很大帮助的。如果学生能学会这些快速掌握英语词汇 的技巧，他们就会
8、很有效地扩大英语词汇量。同时，正确地引导中学生学习英语词 汇也是提高英语词汇习得的一种方法。 Outline . Introduction . Literature Review 2.1. Direct and Indirect Strategies of Vocabulary Acquisition 2.2. Five Steps of Vocabulary Acquisition 2.2.1. Encountering new words 2.2.2. Getting the word form 2.2.3. Getting the word meaning 2.2.4. Consolid
9、ating word form and meaning in memory 2.2.5. Using the word . Strategies on Guiding Middle School Learners to Acquire Vocabulary 3.1.Guiding Middle School LearnersHow to Use Referenece Book and Dictionaries 3.2. Guiding the technique of guessing words 3.3 Other guidance about Vocabulary Acquisition
10、IV.Conclusion The vocabulary, an integral part of language, plays an important role in the process of Learning Language. The important of vocabulary is illustrated by Wilkins who says“Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”1.To middle school learners
11、who learn foreign language, mastering vocabulary of language is an important aspect of improving quality of learning language. However, because of complicated features of English vocabulary, it often brings many difficulties to middle school learners in the process of learning language. Some middle
12、school learners are good at grammar, and they can even master the principles of grammar exactly. However, no matter how well they learn the grammar, no matter how successfully the pronunciation is mastered, they cant still understand the materials of reading and listening very well because of the li
13、mited words or the misunderstanding of the meaning of words. They cant still communicate and write an article in English. The learners often complain that they cant remember the new words easily or the words, which are remembered, are often forgotten very soon .They even complain that some new words
14、 are remembered, but they dont know how to use them correctly. Therefore, to middle school learners, the ability of learning, expanding and using vocabulary is very important. As teachers of English, we must study and discuss learners strategies in the acquisition of vocabulary. In order to teach st
15、udents to enlarge their vocabularies in an effective way, attention should be paid to the following features of English vocabulary. 1. The vocabulary of English language is very large, due to its manifold sources, probably the largest of all language; various occupations and disciplines have their s
16、pecialized vocabularies 2. English vocabulary is subjected to constant change. According to the lexicographers. The rapidity with which words come and go is vastly accelerated in the recent decades as the result of the rapid expansion of knowledge and technology. 3. A word, especially an active one,
17、 may have many “sense”, and moreover , acquire new sense. 4. The meaning of a word or phrase in a text can only be inferred by relating the sense given in the dictionary to the context, linguistic, or sociocultural. 5. Fixed expressions are not always self-evident. The meaning of a fixed expressions
18、 are not be inferred through a knowledge of the normal sense of its constituent words. What is more, certain types of fixed expressions are closely bound to the history and culture of the Englishspeaking countries. 6. The collocation of a word may or may not be fixed. 2. Literature review 2.1. Direc
19、t and indirect strategies of vocabulary learning According to Nation. “There are two strategies of acquiring vocabulary. That is direct and indirect”2 .In direct vocabulary acquisition, students do exercise and activities that focus their attention on vocabulary. Such exercises include word-building
20、 exercises, guessing words from context, learning words in lists, and vocabulary games. In indirect0vocabulary, students attention is focused on some other feature, usually the message that is conveyed by speaker or a writer. If the amount of unknown vocabulary is low in such message, considerable a
21、cquiring vocabulary can occur even the students attention is not directed toward acquiring vocabulary. Krashen calls this the input theory of language learning to occur. First, the learners must be interested in understanding the message. From the point of view of vocabulary acquisitions, this inter
22、est cerates a need to understand the unknown. words in(the message are just beyond present level of achievement. These items, however, should be understandable from the context in which they occur, this include both language and non-language context. Third, the learners should0not feel worried or fr
23、ightened by their context with foreign language”3. One of essential ideas we advocate is that there should be a place for both direct and indirect acquiring vocabulary. Opportunities for indirect acquiring vocabulary should take up more time in a language course that direct acquiring vocabulary acti
24、vities. In other words, contact with language in use shuld0be given more time than de contextualized activities. The range of contextualize activities of course the range of the uses of language. As long as suitable conditions for language learning applies. Such as those described by Krashen then in
25、direct vocabulary acquisition can take place. In vocabulary acquisition, teachers must pay attention to some points of following: the time available, the age of students, the amount of contact with English outside school hours, and the teachers theory of how language is best neared. The four ways de
26、scribed below are listed from the most indirect to the most direct. 1.Materials are prepared with vocabulary acquisitions as a consideration. 2.Words are dealt with as they hippo to occur. This means that if an unknown word appears in a seeding passage, the teacher gives some attention to it at the
27、moment it causes a problem. 3. Vocabulary is acquired in connection with other language activities. 4. Time is spent either in class or out of school on the study of vocabulary with an immediate connection with some other language activities. 2.2. Five steps of vocabulary enlargement In above explor
28、ation, I have mentioned strategies of vocabulary acquisition: direct and indirect. In fact, both direct vocabulary acquisition and indirect vocabulary acquisition include the five steps of following: “Encountering new wordsGetting the new word fromGetting the word meaning consolidating word form and
29、 meaning in memoryusing the word”4. 2.2.1. New word analysis Encountering new words is the first important step of vocabulary acquisition, that is, having a source for words. The students strategies here included “learning new words by reading book, listening to TV and radio, and reading newspaper a
30、nd magazines”5. As far as incidental learning of vocabulary goes. This step is obviously the most vital. Because incidental learning of vocabulary must occur if second language learners are to approach a vocabulary that compares with that of native speakers. This step is very important. Therefore, r
31、eading is not only way in which learners encounter new words. The learners must listen as good way to acquire vocabulary. At the same time, the teacher must train the learners interest or motivation of learning vocabulary. 2.2.2. Getting the word form The second step essential to vocabulary appears
32、to be getting of a clear imageof the form of the vocabulary item. This step was shown in comments such as “associating new words with word that sound similar in my native language” “writing the sounds of words using sound symbols from my native language”, “associating words that are similar to words
33、 in other language I have know” and “Seeing a word that look like another word I already know”. The important of getting the from of the word also appear when students are asked to give definitions for words. Beginning students are particularly likely to make mistakes that are obviously related on c
34、onfusions of the form of one word with the form of other words. In one experiment learner were given an English sentence write one word underlined and were asked to write their native language translation of the word. Their translations ware then back translated to English. 2.2.3. Word meaning The t
35、hird essential step in the learners reported strategies is the one which is most often associated with the idea of vocabulary acquisition: getting the word meaning. This step includes such strategies as “ ask people who speak my native language the meaning of new words” “Making pictures of word mean
36、ings in my mind” and “explaining what I mean and asking someone to tell me the English word.” Although the depth of definition needed may vary and the sources from which meaning can be extracted may be quite different, all learners must get the meaning of words in some manner or the words can never
37、be considered truly acquired. 2.2.4. Consolidating word form action The fourth necessary step of vocabulary acquisition is consolidation of form and meaning in memory. Many kinds of vocabulary acquisition drills, such as flashcards, matching exercise, crossword puzzles, etc. Strengthen the form-mean
38、ing connections. Almost all of the ten memory strategies that Oxford mentions consolidate the connection between word form and meaning in memory. He divides these strategies into general categories: “(1) creating mental linkages, (2) applying images and sounds. (3) reviewing well, (4) employing acti
39、ons”6. Which method learners use for this step doesnt seem to be as important as they do it. The more words learners can get through this step, the more words they will know overall. 2.2.5. Usage the words The final step of vocabulary acquisition is using the words. Some would argue that this step i
40、s not necessary if all that is desired is a receptive knowledge of the word. Such an argument can apply to many of the other processes as well, since a great amount can be comprehended in context even if a reader or listener knows about many of the words being used. However, if the goal is to help l
41、earners move as far along the continuum of word knowledge as they can, word use is essential. Furthermore, use seems to provide a mild guarantee that words and meaning will not fade from memory once they are acquired. Possibly because the use of a word tests the learners understanding of the word le
42、arners feel more confident about their word knowledge once they have used a word without undesired consequence. Use of the word may simply be a form of hypothesis testing, allowing learners to see if the knowledge gained in the other steps is correct. Students use the new words at least once was lik
43、ely to lead to increased use of the words eventually because of the greater confidence which the students had in their word knowledge. In addition to increasing confident and knowledge, use of words seems to be necessary for students to test their knowledge of collocations, syntactic restrictions, a
44、nd register appropriateness. So, learners may not know such things when they have only a receptive knowledge of vocabulary. Although five essential steps which learners acquire vocabulary learning is a broad range of activities, strategies or techniques that individuals use at each step, the necessi
45、ty of the steps seems more constant, learners need all five in order to have full knowledge of the words they want to acquire. 3. Strategies on guiding middle school learners to acquire vocabulary In language learning and use, vocabulary deserves special attention because it needs continuing develop
46、ment even after the middle school learners have acquired a reasonable command of grammar. Vocabulary acquisition should not be confined to the acquisition of a certain number of words and phrases, as prescribed in our syllabus; We must emphasize the development of the students ability to learn vocab
47、ulary so that they can attain competence for their various purpose. At the same time, if learners want to acquire more vocabularies and improve the ability of learning language, they must depend on the teachers guidance. 3.1. How to use the reference books and dictionaries Students should be guided
48、how to use various reference books appropriately. They should be made accustomed to using various types dictionaries and reference books. If they do not know certain words or idiomatic expressions, at least they know where to find information on them whenever they need to. They should learn when and
49、 when not to use dictionaries when they encounter phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions or familiar words in new senses. Usually, they have a tendency to consult a dictionary whenever they meet a polysyllabic Latinate word; but would not bother with such simple-looking words or phrases as old in the phrase “any old time” “not all there” “to get away from it all” or “make off” even though they can not make sense of them. At the same time, learners reference books and dictionaries must be checked. 3.2. The technique of guessing words “The technique of guessing word