词块在英语教学中的应用.docx

词块在英语教学中的应用The Application of Lexical Chunks in English Teaching andLearningContentsAbstract(in Chinese)iAbstract(in English)iiIntroduction1L Vocabulary Teaching and Learning in China2A. The Problems of Traditional Vocabulary Teaching andLearning2B. The Importance of Lexical Chunks in English Teaching andLearning3IL Researches on Lexical Chunks5Definition of Lexical Chunks5changed. In this paper, the author will introduce 'lexical chunks” into application on English teaching and learning.A. The Importance of Lexical Chunks in English Teaching andLearningLewis (1993) suggested that teachers should concentrate on lexical chunks more than grammar and by teaching lexical chunks rather than individual words. Teaching lexical chunks is more effective than teaching individual words one by one on account of lexical chunks are the ideal unit in English teaching and learning what is composed by multi-word units or even sentence instead of individual words.Lexical chunks have numerous advantages of being the ideal unit in English teaching and learning as lexical chunks are the unity of grammatical rules, semantic meanings and pragmatic contexts. Firstly, teaching English with lexical chunks is helpful to reach the goal of accuracy. Using lexical chunk can avoid some pragmatic errors, because lexical chunks often appear in certain context with pragmatic function. It is easily for students to use the lexical chunks correctly. Secondly, teaching English with lexical chunks is helpful to reach the goal of fluency. Since lexical chunks are consist of multi-word units or even sentence instead of individual words, students can easily grasp and express themselves fluently with lexical chunks. For instance, the words "look" "see" and "watch" are nearly the same in meaning but they are always used in different word collocations such as z/look at the blackboard" , "see a film" and "watch baseballgame”.Obviously, teaching and learning lexical chunks is more effective than teaching individual word one by one. To sum up, lexical chunks break through the traditional sense of English teaching and learning and provide a new direction for English teaching and learning. The importance of lexical chunks does suggest that it is a task of top priority to introduce lexical chunks into English teaching and learning.IL Researches on Lexical ChunksWith the rapid growth of education and the requirements of English teaching and learning, the phenomenon of lexical chunks has been studied by more and more linguists and researchers who study from various different aspects. Compared with researches abroad, the studies on lexical chunks in China are much later. In this chapter, the author will devote to present researches on lexical chunks. It will be started with the definition of lexical chunks and the classification of lexical chunks, and then it will introduce studies on lexical chunks home and abroad.A. Definition of Lexical ChunksSo far from here, there are lots of researchers engaged into the study of lexical chunks, among them Lewis, Nattinger and Decarrico have played important roles in this field. In this section, Lewis7 definition and Nattinger and Decarrico, s definition will be introduced.According to Lewis, “Lexical chunks is an umbrella term which include all the other terms. We define lexical chunks as any pair or group of words which is commonly found together or in close proximity.”According to Nattinger and Decarrico, “Lexical phrases are multi-word lexical phenomena that exist somewhere between the traditional poles of lexicon and syntax, conventionalized form composites that occur more frequently and have more idiomatically determined than language that is put together each time/7 From the two definitions maintained above, the commonfeatures of lexical chunks can be submitted as follows: multi-word, fixed or semi-fixed sentence structures and so on that are frequently seen in English. Putting it more simple, lexical chunks are phrases of varying length, such as nHow do you do!, Nice meeting you! As far as， Not onlybut also” and so on.B. Classification of Lexical ChunksAs many linguists and researchers used different definitions for lexical chunks, so does the classification of lexical chunks. In this paper, the author only list the two typical classifications, Lewis (1997) and Nattinger and Decarrico7 s (2010). They put forward fundamental classifications of lexical chunks which are widely accepted by the public.From pragmatic purpose and message-oriented purpose, Lewis (1997) put forward four types of lexical chunks: Word and Poly words, Collocation, Institutionalized utterances and Sentence frames and heads.Word and Polywords: Here, word refers to individual word, such as telephone, computer; Polywords refers to fixed phrases which cannot be split, such as /zto be frank" , "by the way" Collocations: Collocations refer to words that occur together frequently, for example, “due to”, z/heavy rain”; Institutionalized utterances: They are fixed or semi-fixed oral language, for example, /z Nice to meet you! " , What can I do for you? ; Sentence frames and heads: They are usually frequently used in written discourse, such as It is commonly believed that", With the booming of the economy./7 .Form pragmatic functions, Nattinger and Decarrico (1992) classify chunks in four categories: Polywords, Institutionalized expressions, Phrasal constraints and Sentence buildersPolywords: The functions of Polywords are same to individual word, and they don' t allow variability(e.g.z in a word; by the way; by and large); Institutionalized expressions: They are efficient to store as individual wholes, such as proverbs, idioms, as well as formulas for social interaction(e.g.z Good morning!", Long time no see " z Happy new year!n ); Phrasal constraints: They are short phrases allowed variability (e.g.z As far as I.; the more the.; a.ago); Sentence builders: They prove the framework for whole sentence (eg, As is shown; Some people believe that; not only.but also).They put forward fundamental classifications of lexical chunks which are widely recognized by many research in field of researching lexical chunks. The common features of the two kinds of classifications can be submitted as all forms of chunks with grammatical rules, semantic meanings and pragmatic contexts such as word collocations, fixed and semi-fixed expressions, idioms and sentence structures, etc. that are frequently seen in English language.C. Studies on Lexical Chunks Home and AbroadMore recently, the studies on lexical chunks has aroused a heated discussion among more and more linguists and researchers home and abroad, such as Lewis (1993,1997), Nattinger and Decarrico (2010). Lewis develops a new approach named the lexical approach; his main point of view is 'language consists not of traditional grammar and vocabulary, but of multi-word prefabricated chunks“ .The importance of lexical phrases in language teaching is explored with all the details and particulars by Nattinger and Decarrico (2010).In China, Zhang Wenzhong (1992), Yang Yuchen (1999), Shen Minyu (1999), and Wei Naixing (2012) give an introduction of lexical chunks and importance of lexical chunks in the acquisition of English language. Liu Xiaoling and Zhang Yiqiang (2012) discussed the advantages of lexical chunks approach and implications for vocabulary teaching.Besides, there is a great deal of other researches, while most of them pay attention on theoretical assumption. Therefore, the author would like to study lexical chunks through a quantitative research to provide some plain suggestions on application of lexical chunks, which will be valuable for English teaching and learning.111. A Quantitative Research on Current Situation of EnglishLearningThrough the discussion of chapter one and chapter two, we might have got a brief understanding about lexical chunks. Now it is the time to investigate the current situation of English learning to find out problems what students often come across in English learning in learning including listening, speaking,reading and writing. In this chapter three, the author will research current situation of English learning through the questionnaire method, which takes the 60 Grade three students of Handan N0.31 Middle School for the subject.A. Research DesignThe purpose of this research is to have a clearly understanding about the current situation of English learning in order to find out problems what students often come across. This research was carried out in January, 2011. A total of 60 questionnaires distributed were all returned.1. Research QuestionIn most junior high school, there are many problems in English teaching and learning. The author is in the hope of solving the problems and introducing lexical chunks into English teaching and learning, now the research questions are listed as following:1. How about the degree of students7 understanding of "LexicalChunks" ?2. How about the actual situation of English learning for junior high schoolstudents?3. What are the main obstacles in English learning that junior high school students often come across in English learning in learning including listening, speaking, reading and writing?2. SubjectThe subjects of this research are 60 Grade three students of Handan NO.31 Middle School. They are sampled for the considerations: They have learned three years7 English in junior middle school and nearly three years1 English in senior middle school. They have an intimate knowledge of their own obstacles in English learning. Thus they are the best investigated subjects in this research.3. InstrumentThe instrument used in this research is questionnaire. The questionnaire was written in Chinese so that students could be easy to understand each statement means. All the questionswere carefully designed, and the author adopted some useful information from other theses.The questions in the questionnaire can be divided into three parts. Question One is designed to research the degree of students7 understanding of lexical chunks. Question Two to Six is going to research actual situation of English learning for junior high school students. Question Seven to Ten refer to investigating the main obstacles that they often come across when they learn English including listening, speaking, reading and writing. (See Appendix I)In order to get a wider understanding of the actual situations of their English learning, the author also interviewed the investigated subjects after they finished the questionnaires, and recorded their suggestions.4. Date Collection and Data AnalysisThis research was carried out in January, 2011. A total of 60 questionnaires were distributed to each subject with a detailed explanation. The questionnaires distributed were all returned, so all of the questionnaires are regarded as effective questionnaires.B. Classification of Lexical Chunks6Studies on Lexical Chunks Home and Abroad7III. A Qualitative Research on Current Situation of EnglishLearning8A. Research Design8Research Question81. Subject9Instrument92. Date Collection and Data Analysis9Results and Discussion101. The Degree of Students' Understanding of “LexicalChunks” 102. The Actual Situation of English Learning for Junior High School Students.11The Main Obstacles in English Learning13After collecting the questionnaires, the author immediately put all the date of the each questions into order. With the help of the office softwareExcel, the correlation date including numbers of each responses and percentage of each responses are worked out effectively and accurately.B. Results and DiscussionAfter the procedure of the research and the date analysis of questionnaires, it is obviously that there are many serious problems in English teaching and learning in the current situation of English learning for junior high school students. Concluded form the results of the questionnaire, it reveals that the current situation of English learning is irrational and most of the students are lack the conception and awareness of Lexical chunks. What s worse, vocabulary and lexical chunks are still the obstacles in English learning. Now, the result of the questions can be summarized into the following tables:1. The Degree of Students7 Understanding of “Lexical Chunks”Table 1 The Degree of Students7 Understanding of “LexicalChunks"Responses for the questionsChoiceItem Numbers of the responses Percentage of the responses (%)ABC Total ABC TotalQI 9 21 30 60 15 35 50 100Before the subjects began to answer the questionnaires, the author briefly explained to them what lexical chunks are in order to ensure students answer the questions more accurately. It seems that majority of students don't know the term of “Lexical Chunks" clearly. Only 9 students understand the term ofz/Lexica I Chunks" completely, which takes up 15%. Conversely, 35% students know the terms a little as well as 50% students do not know the term at all.Here, a conclusion can be obtained that most of the students are lack the conception and awareness of lexical chunks. That is to say, they pay little attention on lexical chunks in their learning English. Accordingly, it is quite necessary for teachers to introduce the term of "Lexical Chunks“ to students, and put lexical chunks into teaching.2. The Actual Current Situation of English Learning for JuniorHigh School StudentsTable 2 Actual Situation of English LearningResponses for the questionsChoiceItem Numbers of the responses Percentage of the responses (%)A B C D Total A B C D TotalQ2 36 12 6 6 60 60 20 10 10 100Q3 35 13 6 6 60 58 22 10 10 100Q4 3 6 27 24 60 5 10 45 40 100Q5 9 15 18 18 60 15 25 30 30 100Q6 11 25 11 13 60 18 42 18 22 100Question Two to Six is the research of actual situation of English learning for junior high school students, which involves the learning strategies, attitudes towards the patterns of vocabulary teaching, vocabulary learning efficiency as well as the academic records of the subjects. The results can be seen clearly.Question Two and Question Three are designed to inquire into the learning strategies of the students. Question Two is to research which aspect students spend much more time on. 60 percent of students think that vocabulary learning cost their most of time. The majority of students indeed spent a lot of time and effort in learning vocabulary; however, learning is often very low efficiency due to the way of traditional vocabulary learning. In comparison, 20% students spend much more time on grammar learning who think grammar is more important thanothers. The students who choose C and D are both 6, whichaccounts for 20% of the subjects. Question Three is "How do you learn new English words?” 58% of the students who choose A always recite new words through the word list; as a result, students only kn