ABSTRACT

Due to the complex history of the development of English, many words in English have a wealth of meaning. Some of them derived from literary masterpieces, Bible stories, myths, legends and fables, others from historical events, celebrities, fashion customs, and still others from the sports, entertainment, animal behavior, marine, hunting, agriculture, commerce, etc. Words, like people, have a history of their formation. Therefore, cultural elements of the word origin play an irreplaceable role in college classroom vocabulary teaching. Using a controlled experiment, questionnaires, interviews, the present paper examines the application of etymology in English words teaching. The results show that explaining the distinctive history of words can stimulate students’ interest in learning vocabulary, deepen the impression of these words and motivate them to explore the mysteries of English culture. Meanwhile, etymological knowledge combined with cultural message contributes to memorizing words and expanding word stock.

Key words: vocabulary teaching; etymology; cultural elements of the word origin

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-6

Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW-7

2.1 Review of Related Studies-7

2.2 Present Situation and Reasons for Vocabulary Teaching-8

Chapter Three RESEARCH DESIGN-10

3.1 Subjects-.10

3.2 Research Materials10

3.3 Research Procesures-10

3.4 Research Data and Analysis-11

3.5 Interview Analysis . . 13

Chapter Four RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 15

4.1 Results.15

4.2 Advice on College English Teaching.   15

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-18

REFERENCES-19

APPENDICES.20