Abstract

Vocabulary, one of the essential elements of the language, occupies a very important position in English learning and teaching. Learners' ability of mastering and using English vocabulary directly affects their communication with others. Without enough vocabulary, it is difficult for learners to express their ideas and purposes clearly and accurately in the communication. However, through the research on the present situation of English vocabulary teaching in Junior Middle School, the author finds many problems. How to efficiently improve students' efficiency of vocabulary learning and ability of vocabulary using becomes a focus.

And the communicative approach, emphasizing communicative competence, aims to cultivate students’ ability to use language in the "real" context to improve their learning efficiency. Therefore, this paper applies the CA to English vocabulary teaching in Junior Middle School, which aims to testify whether the CA has a positive influence on the students’ motivation and ability of vocabulary learning.

The subjects of this experiment for three months are 135 students in Junior Grade One in Southwest Jiaotong University Affiliating Junior Middle School in Chengdu. Firstly, through the questionnaire, this paper is going to find the problems of vocabulary learning in Junior Grade One. And then the author collects data through the observation of the classroom where the teacher applies the CA to teach English vocabulary. Finally, the CA is verified through the interview of the students' English vocabulary learning. Through the collection and analysis of the experimental data, it clearly shows that the CA can strengthen the students' motivation of vocabulary learning and effectively improve the ability of students' vocabulary learning. 

Key words: Junior Middle School; Communicative approach; English vocabulary

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1  Introduction-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 Research Purpose and Significance-2

2  Literature Review-4

2.1.1 The Definition of Communicative Approach-4

2.1.2 The Studies of Communicative Approach-5

2.1.3 The Characteristics of Communicative Approach-9

2.2 Vocabulary Teaching-10

2.2.1 The Problems of Vocabulary Teaching in Junior Middle School-10

2.2.2 The Application of Communicative Approach to Vocabulary Teaching-11

3  Methodology-13

3.1 Research Question-13

3.2 Research Participants-13

3.3 Research Methods-13

3.3.1 Questionnaire-14

3.3.2 Observation-14

3.3.3 Interview-14

3.4 Research Process-15

3.5 Data Collection and Analysis-16

3.5.1 Questionnaire-16

3.5.2 Observation-16

3.5.3 Interview-16

4  Results and Discussion-17

4.1 Results of Questionnaire-17

4.2 Results of Observation-18

4.3 Results of Interview-20

5  Conclusion-22

5.1 Major Findings of the Research-22

5.2 Implication of the Research-23

5.3 Limitation of the Research-23

5.4 Suggestion for Further Research-24

Bibliography-25

Appendix-27

Acknowledgements-28