Abstract

With the promulgation of the new curriculum reform, the vocabulary students need to master has been enlarged unceasingly. However, in daily vocabulary teaching, most of English teachers still adopt the traditional simplistic teaching method, which over-emphasizes rote learning but ignores the regularity of word itself. Word-formation, which reveals the formation, organization principle and analytical skills from the interior structure of English words, is an efficient way to learn vocabulary and expand vocabulary rapidly, yet there is little empirical study and concrete data prove that word-formation is applicative in vocabulary acquisition and teaching among Chinese senior high school students. Therefore, in order to testify the applicability of word-formation, the author carried out the relative research. And the result indicates that word-formation contributes to overall learners’ receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge acquisition and can stimulate students’ interest in learning English vocabulary. 

Key Words: word-formation; middle school; English vocabulary teaching

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Research Background-1

1.2 Significance and Aims of the Study-2

1.3 Structure of the Study-3

2. Literature Review-4

2.1 Receptive and Productive Vocabulary-4

2.2 Overview of Word Formation-6

2.3 Previous Studies both at Home and Abroad-7

3. Research Design-9

3.1 Participants-9

3.2 Research method-9

3.3 Instruments-9

3.4 Procedures-12

4. Data Analysis-13

4.1 The Analysis of Test-13

4.2 The Analysis of Questionnaire-16

5 Conclusion-18

5.1 Summary of the Study-18

5.2 Pedagogical Implications-18

5.3 Limitations and further Research-19

References-21

Appendices-23

Appendix 1: Paper for pre-test-23

Appendix 2: Paper for the first test-27

Appendix 3: Paper for the final test-30

Appendix 4: Questionnaire-33

Appendix 5: Word lists for CG-35

Appendix 6: Word lists for EG-37