How to Better Our Teaching of Vocabulary in Senior High School

Abstract：In the present age， vocabulary teaching is playing an important role in language learning. How to better our teaching of vocabulary in senior high school has caused heated debate. This paper illustrates the situation of our countrys present teaching of vocabulary in senior high school， and provides some possible ways that may better the quality and efficiency in vocabulary teaching. It is found that although our country has attach great importance to vocabulary learning， especially in senior high school， there are still some problems that we need to take into consideration. And in this paper， it finally summarizes some specific methods and memory strategies which may help both teachers and students in vocabulary teaching.

Key words：vocabulary teaching； senior high school； memory strategies

1. The Problems of Vocabulary Teaching in Senior High School

In the present age， an increasing number of students think that vocabulary is hard for them to learn and memorize. The most significant reason they notice is the abundance of the new words. There are too many new words for them to memorize in their textbooks， exam papers and homework.

Nowadays， many teachers in senior high school pay more attention to grammar rather than vocabulary， which is considered the most important element of language learning. They teach the vocabulary in monotonous and disordered ways and as a result， students think it is so difficult for them to memorize so many disordered new words.

2. Ways to Better Our Teaching of Vocabulary in Senior High School

According to Shu Dingfang（1996）， there are five principles that we should know in the process of vocabulary teaching. They are systematic principle， communication principles， cultural principles， cognitive principles and emotional principles. It is obvious that the skills and experience of the teachers have a considerable influence on their students vocabulary learning. So how should our teachers and educators teach vocabulary efficiently？ Here are some suggestions.

2.1 Motivate Senior High School Students to Learn Vocabulary

Vocabulary learning is a very sophisticated process that some senior high school students think it is difficult to master. For them， vocabulary learning is much more difficult and sophisticated in senior high school than that before. Researches have found that low learning interest and unstable learning willpower are the main factor of this problem. And due to the dull teaching contents and unattractive teaching techniques， pupils learning motivation becomes lower and lower. Solving this problem will have great influence on the future development of pupils themselves， teachers as well as our countrys whole language level.

2.2 Arousing Students Vocabulary Learning Interest

Senior high school students usually show little interest in language learning， especially in vocabulary. However， there are still other subjects that they are interest in， such as sports， computer games， music and so on. Thus our teachers could connect these subjects with vocabulary learning. For example， the teachers can teach some beautiful English music for their students to enjoy and learn. A large number of students love music， therefore， learning English songs is one of the most effective ways to arouse their learning interest. Moreover， some students like computer games or sports， so our teacher can assign them some extra work after class， and ask them to collect some information about them， then do some presentation in English to talk about what they have prepared after class.

2.3 Helping students build confidence and maintain their learning willpower

In senior high school， pupils learning vocabulary learning is often unstable， which may reduce their confidence. Resolution， confidence and perseverance （Zhang&Yu. 1998） are the important psychological factors of willpower. Thus maintaining puples vocabulary learning will power is crucial. First， pupils should make a resolution in vocabulary learning. And once they have resolution to learn vocabulary well， their confidence will be increased. Then having adequate confidence could make our pupils participate in learning activities frequently. In the meantime， perseverance can increase pupils persistence. Then our pupils are able to overcome different kinds of difficulties in vocabulary learning process. So， teachers should train our pupils vocabulary learning willpower to maintain their learning motivation.

2.4 Improving teaching techniques

In the present age， the most popular way to present teaching contents in a easy and entertaining way is multimedia teaching. Multimedia teaching is characterized by intuitiveness and vividness. We all know that in traditional teaching mode， students can only see teaching contents in the blackboard， but in multimedia teaching， it is more entertaining， and this modern device can really activate our students sensory activity， make them be curious about the teaching contents， and be interested in them and inspire their desire for knowledge. And in vocabulary teaching， by using the multimedia， teachers can present the teaching contents through some interesting pictures， meaningful videos， or even some beautiful music. For example， our teachers can leave a homework like watching a movie and write some feelings about it. In this learning process， our pupils can learn vocabulary in a delighted mood， and also the vocabulary is well memorized by them.

3. Conclusion

This paper illustrates some problems in the current vocabulary teaching methods， and then introduces some possible ways to better our vocabulary teaching in senior high school， such as arousing pupils interest and improving teaching techniques. However， the process of this change would be quiet complicated， and it is not a short-time problem. In addition， deeper and further study should be continued. The purpose of this paper is to help teachers and pupils know more about the significance of vocabulary teaching， and provide some good methods for them. It is hoped that this paper would be helpful for their vocabulary teaching and learning.

【作者簡介】

伍月（1993—），女，汉族，江西南昌人，江西师范大学硕士研究生在读，主要研究方向：外国语言学、应用语言学、二语习得。