应用语言学期末论文

1. Introduction

1．1 Research Background

In recent years，second language vocabulary acquisition has become an increasingly interesting topic of discussion for researchers，teachers，curriculum designers，theorists and others involved in second language learning．Both learners and researchers see vocabulary as being a very important，if not the most important，element in language learning．Acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a more important role，and as some would argue，the central role in learning a second language. No matter how well a student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered，without words to express a wider range of meanings，communication in a L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way．Therefore，we can safely draw a conclusion that lexicon may be the most important component for learners．However, present lexical teaching and learning do not have a rosy picture．In practice，there are two misconceptions about vocabulary learning．

Firstly, some English students follow the traditional pattern of rote retention，ignoring the fact that vocabulary is easier to learn in context than in isolated word lists，and the fact that knowing a word is more than knowing its meaning．In practice，they merely memorize as many words as they can．Students，as a result，put accumulation of English vocabulary above everything in the learning process，Holding such a notion，they adopt whatever methods they believe to be effective to expand their vocabulary size，Some students resort to word lists for rote retention，memorizing the words letter by letter．Some students memorize the words in a dictionary according to the alphabetical order．Others rely on their mother tongue in learning English，putting every English word(even very simple lexical items)，into Chinese and the other way round．Though for a short period they might achieve a rapid vocabulary growth，the words are “easy come easy go” and only stay at the recognition level．Consequently, they can neither be long retained nor correctly used．Moreover，because they hold the wrong idea that learning English is just memorizing the vocabulary，students will not grow to appreciate the beauty of English and the way it conveys the ideas and emotions，As a result，despite the great effort they have spent on memorizing the words，they become more frustrated than ever before，for eventually they come to realize that the English words have nothing to do with the

real life．For example，it is usually the case that a certain student has passed the TOFFL exam with flying colors，but when he goes to the English-speaking country, he is still at a loss what to do，because he couldn’t understand what native-speakers have said，nor can he speak with them.

Secondly, a number of students，in spite of being aware of the great role of context and incidental learning in vocabulary acquisition，ignore the importance of another instructional technique：intentional learning．However, in fact，there are several prerequisites for vocabulary acquisition through reading incidentally．For example，one of the prerequisites is that students have to read extensively．But it is usually the case that students are not diligent enough to read all the reading passages in the textbook，let alone the reading materials which are supposed to be finished outside of the classroom.Furthermore，learners’ proficiency is another prerequisite．In order to acquire vocabulary incidentally through extensive reading, a student has to know at least 98％of the lexical items in a reading passage，which implies knowing about 5000 word families or about 8000 lexical items．However，it is sobering to note that most of the students in China have a vocabulary of much less than 1 800 words，which is the requirement by high schools，and those from the remote areas even fewer. Therefore，if we really want to acquire the practical ability to use English as a means to exchange information，we must begin to apply new ways of learning .

2．Definition of Vocabulary

A word(also called a base word or a word family)is defined as including the base form and its inflections and derivatives．Although this definition of a word is convenient and commonly used in vocabulary research，it should be remembered that vocabulary learning is more than the study of individual words. It has been observed that a significant amount of the English language is made up of lexical phrases，which range from phrasal verbs to longer institutionalized expressions.

Basically，vocabulary knowledge consists of receptive vocabulary knowledge and productive vocabulary knowledge，so learning a word involves receptive learning and productive learning．Receptive learning refers to being able to recognize a word when it is met．Productive learning involves what is needed for receptive teaming plus the ability to speak