Abstract：In the process of foreign language learning, it is generally acknowledged that vocabulary becomes one of the most important and basic aspect for students to grasp. The overall language ability of students may be directly influenced by the vocabulary size of the students. If one student does not reserve a certain amount of vocabulary, he/she cannot use the language in actual situation. Therefore, lexical teaching is a very important part in English teaching. In the current senior high school teaching practice, although many teachers pay much attention to lexical teaching, some even put a lot of time on it, the actual effect is often not as good as expected that students can master and use words correctly and appropriately. The current situation of senior high school English lexical teaching is not optimistic. This paper first analyzes the current situation of English lexical teaching in senior high schools. And then it gives a brief account of the previous studies on lexical teaching abroad and in China. Based on the previous studies, the author puts forward several lexical teaching methods in the hope that these methods can help the students improve their English learning efficiency.

Key words: lexical teaching   Senior High School Students   English vocabulary learning

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-5

2 The Current Situation of Lexical Teaching in Senior High Schools-6

2.1 The problems of today’s senior high school English Lexical Teaching-6

2.1.1 Neglecting lexical teaching-6

2.1.2 Paying too much attention to lexical teaching-7

2.1.3 Overlooking the usage of vocabulary-7

2.1.4 Neglecting learning strategies-8

2.1.5 Paying too much attention to examinations-8

2.1.6 Disbeliefs on lexical learning-9

2.1.7 Overlooking the importance of pronunciation-9

2.2 The causes of the problems of lexical teaching in English learning-9

3 Previous Studies on Lexical Teaching-10

3.1 The studies abroad-10

3.1.1 The concept of English vocabulary learning and views on vocabulary learning strategies-10

3.1.2 The study on a specific word teaching strategies-10

3.1.3 The study on the effectiveness of lexical teaching-11

3.1.4 Some empirical studies on English vocabulary teaching-11

3.2 The studies in China-11

3.2.1 Studies on strategies of English lexical teaching-12

3.2.2 The study on vocabulary size-12

3.2.3 Some empirical researches-13

4 The Principles and Methods of Lexical Teaching-13

4.1 The principles of Lexical Teaching-13

4.1.1 Phonics-13

4.1.2 Contextualizing-14

4.1.3 Association-16

4.2 The methods of Lexical Teaching-17

4.2.1 Emphasizing on word formation-17

4.2.2 Emphasizing on Context-18

4.2.2.1 Guessing with the help of synonyms and hyponyms-18

4.2.2.2 Guessing with the help of the relationship between words-19

4.2.2.3 Guessing with the help of collocations-19

4.2.3 Emphasizing on phonics teaching-20

4.2.4 Emphasizing on the association between English words and Chinese 

words-20

5 Conclusion-21

Bibliography-22

Acknowledgements-23