词组方法在商务英语词汇学习中的有效性研究_张玉芹.docx

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1、对外经济贸易大学硕士学位论文 词组方法在商务英语词 汇学习中的有效性研究 专 业：外国语言学及应用语言学 研究方向：商务英语 作 者：张玉芹 导 师：俞利军教授 写作时间： 2004 年 9 月一 2005 年 4 月 对外经济贸易大学 英语学院 School of International Studies University of International Business and Economics A Study on the Effectiveness of the Phrase-Approach to Business English Vocabulary Learning Z

2、hang Yuqin A thesis submitted to School of English of University of International Business and Economics In partial fulfillment of the requirement For the degree of Master of Arts April 2005 Beijing, China 摘要 词汇量的大小是衡量学习者英语水平的重要标准之一。如何学好词汇历来是国内外学术 界所研究的重要课题。国内目前的研究有些集中于传统的点式学习法，如归类法、词根法等。 点式学习法在某些方面

3、（比如快速背记单词 ） 具有一定的作用，但是其不足之处在于缺乏有 效性：学习者往往不能准确地掌握单词在不同语境的具体意义而导致理解上的误差，使得所 学词汇在写、说、读等方面不能发挥应有的核心作用。这对于具有较高水平的商务英语学习 者来说更显不足。 本文对词组 学习法作了初步探索和研究。作者结合商务英语的特点提出在词组的语境下 学习单词具有较强的可行性和有效性。作者从语义场理论入手，分析词汇的本质特点，从语 义场理论的角度论证词组学习法的有效性，并通过实验方法证实了词组学习法在学习者的实 际学习中是非常有效的。 第一章首先提出了本研究的假设，即词组学习法是扩大商务英语学习者词汇量的一种有 效方法

4、；然后对本文的研究目的、文中使用的术语和论文的结构安排进行了介绍。 第二章回顾了语义场理论的起源与发展，着重对横组合语义场进行了详细介绍；最后回 顾了词汇学习和词汇教学领域 的相关研究。本章内容为作者提出的假设提供了充分的理论依 据。 第三章介绍了作者提出在商务英语词汇学习中使用词组学习法的原因以及实验设计；第 四章对收集到的实验数据进行了处理与分析，分析结果证实了作者的假设，本章进一步从神 经语言学、心理语言学和同文语境的角度证实了词组学习法的有效性并总结了词组学习法的 优点。为了调查商务英语学习者对词组学习法的态度，本研究项目还做了附加调查问卷并在 这一章进行了介绍。在对实验结果和调查问卷

5、结果进行综合分析的基础上提出了有关商务英 语词汇学习和词汇教学的几点建议。 第五章对整个论文做了总结，并提出本研究的一些理论意义和实践意义、存在的问题以 及在今后的研究方向 关键词：词汇学习，词组学习法，语义场，有效性 I Abstract The vocabulary size is one criterion for measuring ones English competence. How to learn vocabulary effectively has long been an important research subject for foreign and domesti

6、c scholars. Some researches in China have focused on the point-approach such as learning vocabulary through classification or root formulation. The point-approach does play a part in vocabulary learning, but it does not seem very effective, especially for those Business English learners. This study

7、conducts a research on the phrase-approach to Business English vocabulary learning. Taking the characteristics of Business English into consideration, the author proposes that learning vocabulary through phrases is effective and efficient, arguing for the effectiveness of the phrase-approach from th

8、e perspective of the semantic field theory. The thesis endeavors to prove the effectiveness of the phrase-approach through a comparative experiment. Chapter One introduces the working hypothesis of the study, i.e. the phrase-approach is an effective way of developing Business English learners vocabu

9、lary. An introduction to the purpose of the research, the terminology and the organization of the thesis follows. Chapter Two reviews the origin and development of the semantic field theory with a concentration on the syntagmatic semantic field. This chapter also briefly reviews the relevant studies

10、 on the phrase-approach both in vocabulary learning and vocabulary teaching. It provides theoretical support for the study. Chapter Three presents the reason why the phrase-approach is recommended in Business English learning and the design of the experiment. Chapter Four processes and analyzes the

11、collected data, and the experimental results turn out to justify the hypothesis. This chapter further discusses the effectiveness of the phrase-approach from the perspectives of neurolinguistics, psycholinguistics, and contextulism and the advantages of this approach are concluded. In order to inves

12、tigate students attitudes toward the phrase-approach, Chapter Four also discusses an additional questionnaire conducted as part of the study. Finally, the author puts forward some practical suggestions on Business English vocabulary learning and teaching based on the quantitative studies and the que

13、stionnaire results. Chapter Five concludes the thesis, including a summary of the whole thesis, possible significance of the study, and the limitations of the research, as well as suggested further research possibilities. Keyword: vocabulary learning; the phrase-approach; semantic field; effectivene

14、ss Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Yu Lijun, my mentor, for his insight, encouragement and advice. His strict supervision over three years spurs me to forge ahead incessantly. Without his continuous patience and sincere encourage, I would not have accomplished t

15、he thesis. My thanks also go to Prof. Chang Yutian, Prof. Jiang Chun and Prof. Zhang Jing. They spared no thought-provoking advice during my defense of research proposal, which proved to be valuable for the whole writing process. I owe a special debt to Prof. Huang Hao who goes out of the way to hel

16、p me in revising the thesis. His sense of responsibility as a teacher moves me to tears. Without his logical rigor， prudent suggestions and expert comments， this thesis wouldnt be what it is today. My deep appreciation also goes to Prof. Zhang Jing and Prof. Wu Jiangsheng. Their useful suggestions o

17、ffer me much enlightenment to revise this thesis, and their encouragement and kindness help me go through this harsh time. I will also remember Prof. Zhang Zuocheng who provides me with great help during the selection of the subject. I am grateful for his precious advice and patience. Heartfelt than

18、ks go to all authors whose works are used in the thesis and those students who participated in my experiment and answered my questionnaires. Finally, I thank my family and my boyfriend for their unending love, support and dedication. To them, this thesis is dedicated. Ill Contents 裯要 . i Abstract .

19、JI Acknowledgements. . Ill Chapter One Introduction . 1 1.1 Working hypothesis . 2 1.2 Purpose of the study . 2 1.3 Terminology . 3 1.4 Organization of the thesis . 3 Chapter Two Literature Review . 5 2.1 Semantic fields . 5 2.1.1 Saussurean stmcturalism . 5 2.1.2 Triers field theory and paradigmati

20、c relations . 6 2.1.3 Porzigs notion of syntagmatic relations . 7 2.1.4 Grandy and semantic fields . 8 2.1.5 A review of further research in semantic fields . 9 2.2 Relevant studies on the phrase-approach practice . 11 2.2.1 Studies in the field of vocabulary learning . 11 2.2.2 Studies in the field

21、 of vocabulary teaching . 12 2.3 Summary . 14 Chapter Three Experiment . 15 3.1 Why the phrase-approach to BE vocabulary learning. 15 3.2 Nature and subjects . 17 3.2.1 Nature of the experiment . 17 3.2.2 Subjects . 17 IV 3.3 Criteria of a test and the choice of the contrastive data . 18 3.3.1 Crite

22、ria of a test . 18 3.3.2 The contrastive data . 19 3.4 Research procedure and data. 20 3.4.1 Material preparation . 20 3.4.2 Learning the material . 21 3.4.3 Testing . 21 3.4.4 Checking the answer . 21 Chapter Four Result Analysis and Discussion plus an Additional Investigation.23 4.1 Data processin

23、g and result analysis . 23 4.1.1 Material A2 . 23 4.1.2 Material B2 . 24 4.1.3 A comparative analysis of the results of Material A2 and Material B2 . 25 4.2 Discussion . 26 4.2.1 Advantages of the phrase-approach . 30 4.2.2 More research evidence for the effectiveness of the phrase-approach . 32 4.3

24、 An investigation of students5 attitudes towardthe phrase-approach . 36 4.3.1 Subjects . 36 4.3.2 Questions writing . 36 4.3.3 Research procedure and data . 37 4.3.4 Findings and comments . 38 4.4 Recommendations for BE vocabulary learning and teaching . 40 Chapter Five Conclusion . 43 5.1 Summary .

25、 43 5.2 Possible significance of the study . 44 5.3 Limitations of the thesis and suggestions onfurther study. . 44 Bibliography . 47 Appendix al . 51 Appendix a2 . 53 Appendix a3 . 55 Appendix a4 . 57 Appendix b . 59 VI Contents of Tables and Figures Table 4.1 Comparison of different classes in Cla

26、ss One . 24 Table 4.2 Comparison of different classes in Class One . 25 Table 4.3 Comparison of different classes in Class Two . 26 Table 4.4 Comparison of different classes in Class Two . 38 Figure 4.1 Comparison of different classes between Class One and Class Two.24 Figure 4.2 Comparison of diffe

27、rent classes between Class One and Class Two.25 Figure 4.3 The results of the questionnaire . 26 Figure 4.4 The results of the questionnaire . 38 VII Chapter One Introduction Vocabulary plays a very important role in the language system, as Harmer has it, uIf language structure makes up the skeleton

28、 of language, then it is vocabulary that provides the vital organs and the flesh. An ability to manipulate grammatical structure does not have any potential for expressing meaning unless words are used.” (1991:153) Vocabulary is important, but learning vocabulary often proves difficult. Jan Hulstiji

29、n relates a personal experience that would probably arouse echoes among many foreign language learners: I receive great amounts of input in written form (professional literature) and oral form (radio, TV), but almost every day I read or hear some unfamiliar words. When I deem a new word important, I

30、 first make an attempt to infer its meaning from the context, I then look it up in my dictionary in order to check my inference, and finally I write the word down in a notebook, together with its context. Yet, I tend to forget the meaning of most of the words thus processed soon afterward. The next

31、time I come across one of them, I remember having seen it and looked it up, I sometimes remember the context in which it originally appeared, but I cannot retrieve its meaning. I feel very annoyed, consult my dictionary once again, but take no further measures in order to better anchor the word in m

32、emory (2001:203). Why is it that he couldnt remember the words meaning the second time? What was wrong with his “infer + look up + write down” strategy? The most likely answer is that he might have done enough for immediate comprehension but not enough for retention over time. I believe that this is

33、 an experience most learners of English as a second or foreign language have and also a problem that most of them are faced with. Chinese Business English (BE) learners, who can generally communicate well with their fair syntactical and lexical knowledge of the English language, still need to enlarg

34、e their BE vocabulary either for academic or practical purposes or both in the context of the rich and multi-dimensional world of business. A growing body of research evidence is showing the advantages of using certain skills and techniques in l the process of second language vocabulary acquisition. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, specialist vocabulary was seen to be what distinguished BE from General English (GE), and there was a preoccupati