英语学年论文—浅析以学生为中心的英语词汇教学

湘潭大学兴湘学院学年论文题目：浅析以学生为中心的英语词汇教学Title:On the Student-Centered English Vocabulary Teaching学院：兴湘学院专业：英语学号：姓名：指导教师：完成日期：2011-11-16ContentsAbstract---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ⅡIntroduction---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 1.English Vocabulary Teaching----------------------------------------------------------- 31.1Introduction of English V ocabulary--------------------------------------------------- 31.2The Importance of English Vocabulary Teaching-------------------------------- 41.3The Problems in Traditional English V ocabulary Teaching-------------------- 42.Humanistic Psychology ---------------------------------------------------------------------62.1Introduction of Humanistic Psychology--------------------------------------------62.2Student-Centered Teaching Mode------------------------------------------------73.The Application of Student-Centered English VocabularyTeaching Mode-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------103.1The Teacher’s Role-------------------------------------------------------------------------103.2The Student’s Role------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13 Works Cited ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14浅析以学生为中心的英语词汇教学摘要：在当今社会，英语已成为一门国际性语言。

中国自改革开放并进入WTO之后，对英语人才的需求日益增强，因此，英语教学在中国教育体系中分量也逐渐加大。

然而，很多中国学生即使接触或学习英语多年，也可能很难在不同场合下正确、从容地表达自己的观点。

由此，我们至少可以知道这是由英语词汇的缺乏而导致的。

在二十世纪七八年代的中国，学校教育主要是以教师为中心的教学模式为主，而自九十年代以来才慢慢采用以学生为中心的教学模式。

这一教学模式的改革非常有利于英语教学的提高。

本文将用三个章节来谈论英语词汇教学，学生中心教学模式及其理论基础即人本主义心理学，以及学生中心教学模式下的英语词汇教学。

关键词：英语词汇；英语词汇教学；学生中心教学模式；人本主义心理学On the Student-Centered English Vocabulary TeachingAbstract：Nowadays, English language has become an international language. The demand for English talents becomes increasingly urgent in China, and English also plays an important role in the education system of China. There are more and more Chinese people learning English, however, many students cannot fluently express themselves though they have learned for several years. The most important factor can come to the lack of vocabulary, which is the most important part of a language. Since last 90s, the teaching mode has gradually shifted from teacher-centered to student-centered which is very helpful to English vocabulary teaching and English language teaching as well. In this paper, three chapters are focused on English vocabulary teaching, student-centered teaching mode and its theoretic base--Humanistic Psychology，and the integration of them.Key Words: English vocabulary; English vocabulary teaching; student-centered teaching mode; Humanistic PsychologyIntroductionEnglish as a global and the most widely used language, has been playing an increasingly important role in China. A growing number of Chinese are learning to speak English, and students in China are even required to begin to learn English in primary school. However, even if they have begun to learn English for so many years, they would have many difficulties and even feel embarrassed when they listen to native English speakers, and when they are required to use English to deal with some situations. Why would this happen? The most important is that they do not have enough vocabulary and have little awareness of using correct and appropriate words to express themselves in different contexts.It is the best-known that vocabulary is the most essential material of a language. Without it, the language will make no sense. Therefore, English vocabulary teaching is very important and useful to help learners master a certain number of primary vocabulary and enlarge their store of vocabulary to select from easily and freely. In the process of English vocabulary teaching, the assignment for students is to learn how to enlarge their store of vocabulary, while the assignment for teachers is to teach students how to learn vocabulary. A number of scholars have studied on techniques of vocabulary teaching, such as Cross, 1991. During the whole process of teaching, as the students are the real players on the stage, the teachers must make sure that their teaching approaches and activities are based on the students. At the same time, students must participate personally and actively in the English course, only with this way can they really master English language. As a result, the student-centered teaching mode, which has been researched by many authorities, such as Baxter, S. and Gray, C. with the book, The Application of Student-Centered Learning Approaches to Clinical Education(2001), is very suitable for English vocabulary teaching in schools and it also has been experimented and highly used in teaching English vocabulary.The purpose of this paper is to present a humanistic educational paradigm thathas its roots in the well-acknowledged and thoroughly researched approach of Rogers’ Student-Centered Teaching (Rogers 1983) and applies this approach to English vocabulary teaching. The body part consists of three parts. The first part is mainly about English V ocabulary and, such as its definition, its importance. The second part almost talks about the student-centered teaching mode, and the last part mainly discusses the application of student-centered teaching mode to English vocabulary teaching.1.English Vocabulary TeachingAs it is known to all, vocabulary is the most essential part of English language. Therefore, English vocabulary teaching plays the most fundamental role in English teaching. In this chapter, knowledge about English vocabulary is mainly presented.1.1 Introduction of English VocabularyUsually, we consider word as equivalence to vocabulary, but to be exact, vocabulary is not completely equal to word.1.1.1 The Definition of VocabularyWhat is vocabulary? In Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary of the 6th Edition, it includes: 1) all the words that a person knows or uses. 2) all the words in a particular language. 3) the words that people use when they are talking about a particular subject. 4) (also informal vocab) a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for learning a foreign language.. From these items, we can learn that vocabulary usually refers to a total number of the words of a language. It is the basic meaningful unit in language communication.1.1.2 The Importance of VocabularyIf language structures make up the skeleton of language, it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and flesh. It is almost impossible for people to listen, speak, read, write, and even communicate without vocabulary. “Without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”(Wilkins 111) Anyone who has really mastered one foreign language is very clear about that the main part of learning a foreign language is to master its vocabulary. That is to say, vocabulary is the most important and crucial part of English language.1.2 The Importance of English Vocabulary TeachingLewis (190) argues that vocabulary should be at the centre of language teaching, because ‘language consists of grammaticalized lexis, not lexicalised grammar’.As English vocabulary is so important for learners to learn English language, English vocabulary teaching is the most primary and vital step in English language teaching. To really master English language, we need a large store of vocabulary, from which we can select when we wish to express our ideas. Therefore, English vocabulary teaching, running through the whole process of English language teaching, is fundamental and also difficult to English language teaching. English vocabulary teaching can not only help students learn a quantity of words and build a store of vocabulary, but guide them to use vocabulary correctly, effectively and freely in different contexts.1.3 The Problems in Traditional English Vocabulary TeachingIn traditional English teaching, teachers usually apply the similar patterns to all the sections of English teaching, neglecting the differences between vocabulary teaching and reading teaching or others. As a result, it is difficult to effectively help students master vocabulary and the language efficiently.According to surveys, in traditional English teaching, students just act as “receivers”, and what the y should do is just listen to what the teachers teach. In a traditional vocabulary lesson, the teaching is usually done with the pattern that the teacher explaining the words, the students just listen to the teacher, read following the teacher, write notes of the words even without any thinking, and then recite the words. That, however, just makes students be passive and mechanical on memorizing words, as a consequence, it causes inefficiency and burden of vocabulary learning.In traditional English vocabulary teaching, teachers almost just emphasize on the grammatical or conceptual meanings of the words, but neglect the context which the words are fit in, therefore, it makes what the teacher does just like he is lecturing adictionary. It seems so boring that students are never interested in and as a result they can hardly really master the words. In relation to vocabulary teaching, researchers suggest that teaching new vocabulary should begin by presenting the new items in context and should be given opportunity of dealing with words out of context (Palmberg 89-90).It is important to provide students with strategies for learning the meaning of new vocabulary from the context in which it occurs instead of making them recite the long list of words or look up unknown words in a dictionary which would possibly not benefit the actual learning of vocabulary.2.Humanistic PsychologyHumanistic psychology sprang up in 1950s in America, founded by Abraham Harold Maslow and developed by Carl Rogers. It just followed Behaviorism and Psychoanalytic Theory in the field of psychology. It mainly studies on human nature and the relationship between human nature and society. It has a great influence on education. In this chapter, some brief introduction of humanistic psychology and student-centered teaching mode will be presented.2.1 Introduction of Humanistic PsychologyHumanistic psychology, considered as the third important in the field of psychology, emphized on positive development of psychology and the value of individual’s growth.It mainly contained Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Roger’s Person-Centered Therapy. Humanistic psychology was the base of humanistic learning theory from which humanistic teaching theory developed.Carl Rogers, one of the representatives who developed the humanistic psychology and also put forward the student-centered teaching, held the view that individuals developed their self-awareness based on getting much positive affirmation and self-affirmation without any requirement. He addressed the learning mode--“learning freely” and the teaching mode--“student-centered teaching”, which aimed to cultivated a “whole person”. The student-centered teaching mode focused on the children who had the demand for esteem and respect. He thought that the utmost important wok of a teacher was not teaching but coaching, and that teachers should create nice atmospheres to promote children’s learning. Applied to English vocabulary teaching, what teachers should teach was not every available word but the correct method of learning and memorizing a series of words. That is, students should be the center of the class and they should not just be told what the word was but be coached how to learn the word.2.2Student-Centered Teaching ModeStudent-centered teaching mode was the main content of humanistic teaching theory which was based on humanistic psychology. In traditional English language teaching, the teachers are usually the main actors in a class, which can easily result in bringing difficulties to students’ learning as well as their improvement of practical abilities. As the educational reform and teaching innovation have been being promoted and encouraged, student-centered teaching mode has been experimented and approved to be very helpful to English language teaching. It makes great sense on developing students’ language skills, innovation, and practical abilities and so on. Therefore, student-centered teaching mode becomes more and more popular and is widely applied to English language teaching in classroom.2.2.1Definition of Student-Centered Teaching ModeStudent-centered teaching mode is addressed by Carl Rogers, who was a representative of humanistic psychology. It was deceloped as a kind of teaching principle by some distinguished experts and scholars, such as Nunan, whose views and emphasis, however, are very different from each other. For example, in view of course design, Nunan (19) states:student-centered curriculums contain the same factors and processes withtraditional ones, but they mainly differ from each other in these pointsthat the every step of tasks design is done by both students and teachers,and students also play a role in selecting the contents, approaches andassessment of teaching.According to Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: A Handbook for Language Teaching( Johnson 193) , it is student-centered if the dominant consideration is naturally in accordance with the learners’ learning process. Otherwise, it is teacher-centered if teachers are in dominance.The student-centered teaching mode asks students to take a more active andcollaborative role in their own learning with the instructor acting more as a facilitator (Knowlton 2000). Students must become active participants who take responsibility for their own learning and are willing to work cooperatively with others to achieve course goals. That is to say, the essence of student-centered teaching mode is the dominance of students in classroom.2.2.2Comparisons Between Two Teaching ModesIn traditional teacher-centered teaching mode, teachers or professors are dominant in classroom environment, and knowledge is transmitted from teacher or professor to student. However, in student-centered teaching mode, all that in classroom environment should focuses on students, who become the really players on stage.“The design and development of the course, rather than the facilitationand teaching of the course, is where the transfer of knowledge takesplace [ … ] Our role now is to make sure that infor mation is presented ina way that is relevant, understandable, memorable, and useful tostudents” (Smith15).Students are no longer just the “receivers of knowledge”, yet they construct knowledge through gathering and synthesizing information and integrating it with the general skills of inquiry, communication, critical thinking, and problem solving.In teacher-centered teaching mode, what teachers or professors emphasize is mainly on acquisition of knowledge outside the context in which it will be used. For instance, when teaching the word “form”, the teacher may just tell students the conceptual meaning and grammatical meaning, as a result, students may not know how to use “form” in a certain context. Whereas, in student-centered teaching mode, emphasis is on using and communicating knowledge effectively to address enduring and emerging issues and problems in real-life contexts. Only to achieve this goal, English teaching should be considered as effective and successful.Instructor’s role is to be primary information giver and primary evaluator in teacher-centered teaching mode. When a question being put forward, the only rightanswer is what the instructor gives, without accounting for students’ possible answers. But in student-centered teaching mode, inst ructor’s role is to coach and facilitate, and instructor and students usually evaluate learning together, no longer just emphasize on the absolute right answer but on the possible ones.Due to less control of the classroom environment, an instructor should operate more as a facilitator and less as an intellect-on-stage. “We become the bridge between students and content rather than the source of the content” (Smith 16).2.2.3The Effects of Student-Centered Teaching ModeWith the student-centered teaching mode, students can do their study more independently through searching information on Internet or from libraries individually. For they are dominant in classroom, students should not be the passive knowledge receivers any more, therefore, that may be helpful to improve their thinking abilities. Owing to their leading position, students have more opportunities to present themselves to others, and with their more presentations, they can more easily foster their practical abilities, spirit of innovation, and capacities of language integrated application.Instructors are more challenged in the student-centered teaching mode. They have to adjust and adapt what they have designed to the real classroom environment. They have to transfer themselves from the primary elevator to a facilitator, an adviser, a consultant, or a participant and so on, to make sure the teaching activity to be successful（Liyi and Hanfeng 66-68）.3.The Application of Student-Centered English VocabularyTeaching ModeNowadays it is widely accepted that vocabulary teaching should be part of the syllabus, and taught in a well-planned and regular basis. And the student-centered teaching mode is widely applied to English language teaching. When the student-centered teaching mode is applied to English vocabulary teaching, students can develop their vocabulary store more efficiently. What should both teachers and students do to make really full use of the advantages of student-centered teaching mode in a vocabulary teaching class?3.1The Teacher’s Ro leIn a student-centered teaching mode, teachers mainly play the roles as facilitator, no longer the dominance in classroom. So what instructors should be done in a vocabulary lesson is to use teaching strategies to design a nice plan, which is mainly focused on students and beneficial to students mastering of new vocabulary.In traditional vocabulary teaching, instructor mainly gets students reading the word list after him again and again, then lectures the words just like lecturing the dictionary. That kind of method is no longer suitable for English vocabulary teaching nowadays, as the present requirements of vocabulary have been increased a lot.A number of authors have described many techniques of vocabulary teaching. Following, I just present three of them, presentation strategies, practice strategies and strategy training strategies. Presentation strategies are those that introduce the target vocabulary for the first time. These strategies involve either presentation of the meaning, such as conceptual meaning, or the form. Among the meaning strategies are visual strategies like the use of pictures, body actions, real objects or video, verbal presentation strategies like definition, translation, or exemplification and audio strategies like imitation of sound or having learners listen to a tape-recording (Cross77). Those strategies are mainly related to students’ sense of sight, ability of speaking, and sense of hearing, as the main senses of students are motivated, they will actively participate the activity and become the dominance of the class. The second group of strategies, practice strategies, mainly involves classroom review of the previously lectured vocabulary. For example, teachers can organize a small classroom vocabulary test to check the ext ent of students’ mastering of the introduced vocabulary, or promote a meaningful vocabulary game to stimulate students’ interests in vocabulary learning, or draw a semantic map to help students memorize a series of similar words . These activities can do some help to consolidate the vocabulary with student’ participants. The third strategy group includes strategies for strategy training. Strategy training aims to teach students strategies for independent vocabulary learning like guessing meaning from context, word-building, keeping vocabulary notes. To teach these strategies well, however, the teacher must have a kind of teaching plan. Pittman (2003), for instance, describes a strategy for teaching word analysis skills in English and Schmitt,N and Schmitt D(1995) offer a method to teach learners how to organize a vocabulary notebook. These strategies almost make students the focus and instructors the facilitators.3.2 The Student’s RoleStudents themselves are the main actors in a student-centered vocabulary teaching class. First and foremost, they must be aware of their motivation and active in class activities. By performing like that, they will arouse their interests in learning vocabulary, and will be active to apply what they have learnt to real contexts. Then, of course, they had better develop a suitable method of learning vocabulary. Next I would like to make a brief introduction of memory strategies.There are researches suggesting that our ‘mental lexicon’ is highly organised and efficient, and that semantic related items are stored together. Word frequency is one of the factors that affect storage, as the most frequently used items are easier to recall. Students can apply this information to facilitate the learning process, by categorizingitems of vocabulary in semantic fields, such as topics. Oxford (170) suggests memory strategies to aid learning, and these can be divided into:a)creating mental linkages: grouping, associating, placing new wordsinto a contextb)applying images and sounds: using imagery, semantic mapping, usingkeywords and representing sounds in memoryc) reviewing in a structured wayd) employing action: physical response or sensation.Students will benefit a lot if they really mastered the memory strategies and make well use of them. In student-centered English vocabulary teaching mode, students themselves must be aware of their dominance in classroom and the necessity and importance of their own initiatives and motivations.ConclusionThis paper focuses on the English vocabulary teaching with a student-centered teaching mode. Vocabulary, as essential and fundamental part of English language, is a huge and important task to both teachers’ teaching and students’learning. At present, many English learners have difficulty in expressing themselves clearly and appropriately in a wide range of situations, though they have learned English for many years. Facing this situation, students should be active to enlarge their vocabulary and teachers should base on students and develop their vocabulary teaching methods to help students really master the vocabulary. In this paper, some primary introduction to vocabulary and student-centered teaching mode and the introduction of its theoretic base and how to apply the mode to English vocabulary teaching are the main contents. Some specific methods included in student-centered teaching mode listed in this paper may be helpful to improve English vocabulary teaching. In addition, some more approaches can be explored with student-centered teaching mode to develop the quality of English vocabulary teaching..Works CitedBaxter, S. and Gray, C. “The Application of Student-Centered Learning Approaches to Clinical Education”International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders,36 (Supplement), 2001.Cross, D. A Practical Handbook of Language Teaching. London: Longman, 1991.Johnson, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: A Handbook for Language Teaching.Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.Knowlton, D. 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