Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Orientation of the Research
This paper explores the development of productive vocabulary of 60 tertiaryEnglish majors in an English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom setting in China.Guided by Dynamic Systems Theory (DST), the development of productivevocabulary is investigated by adopting a multiple-test approach. It is hoped that thefindings of this investigation can lead to a better understanding of the progress of L2lexical competence and an improvement in vocabulary teaching and learning.Specifically, the present research addresses the following three general questions:
1. If metaphor awareness raising and vocabulary learning strategies training arecorrelated with productive vocabulary, what are the traits of productive vocabularydevelopment?
2. What is the correlation between metaphor awareness raising and productivevocabulary development?
3. What is the correlation between vocabulary learning strategies training andproductive vocabulary development?
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1.2 Background of the Research
As an important research focus of second language acquisition, vocabularyacquisition has drawn attention of more and more linguists and language teachers bothat home and abroad (Richard1976; Stern1983; Laufer1986; Carter1987,1997;Schmitt&McCarthy1977; Nation1990, 2001; Read2000; Thornbury 2002). Afterdistinguishing receptive vocabulary from productive vocabulary, researchers madegreat contributions to the measurement of productive vocabulary, the design of themeasurement and made attempts to explore the relationship between receptivevocabulary and productive vocabulary etc. Meanwhile, in China, learners’ vocabularyacquisition process is being analyzed from multiple perspectives (Cui Yanyan&WangTongshun 2006; Tan Xiaochen 2006, 2007 et.al.).However, less emphasis has been put on the development of productivevocabulary as some scholars try to explore approaches to enlarge productive vocabulary size but ignore the process of the productive vocabulary development(Chen Yonghong & Deng Lianjian 2003; Deng Lianjian 2003; Ma Guihua & ShiYongzhen 2006). What’s more, although the development of productive vocabularyhas multifaceted characteristics (Tan Xiaochen 2006), many researchers only attachimportance on its single dimension instead of multiple angles. At present, it is notconfirmed to the best way of promoting the development of productive vocabularyand few researches are carried out on tracking its developmental process.Larsen Freeman firstly introduced Dynamic Systems Theory into secondlanguage acquisition (1997). The theory focuses on the point that language can bedescribed as an aggregation of static units or products and language acquisition is notsimply a linear process guided by input but a dynamic system which is full offeedback and stabilization (Li Lanxia 2011). Language has all the characteristics ofdynamic complex systems. As all variables are connected with each other, changes inone variable will exert an influence over all other variables which are part of thesystem. Many interdependent variables interact with each other, not only within thelanguage system, but also within the social environment and the psychologicalmake-up of an individual. Meara points out that vocabulary knowledge has all thefeatures of complex system and on the whole shows a developmental trait of “S”( Zheng Yongyan 2011). Scholars at home and abroad confirm the nonlinear processof the vocabulary development while only a few domestic studies involve its dynamiccharacteristics (Laufer1998;Laufer ＆ Paribakht1998;Schmitt1998;Wolter2001;LiuShaolong 2001; Cui Yanyan&Wang Tongshun 2006; Tan Xiaochen 2006,2007; ZhangShujing 2008; Zhang Ping 2010).
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Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This chapter tries to provide a sound foundation for the theoretical framework ofthe research. It begins with a historical retrospect of L2 vocabulary research. Then itis followed by an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on productivevocabulary with the brief introduction of definitions and characteristics of DST.Finally, pedagogical-interventive techniques are presented as in metaphor awarenessraising and vocabulary learning strategies training.
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2.2 A Historical Retrospect of L2 Vocabulary Research
As said by British linguist Wilkins (1972:111), “the fact is that while withoutgrammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”,vocabulary acquisition is the core and foundation of second language acquisition.In fact, for many years, vocabulary has been neglected. From the beginning ofthe nineteenth century, the main language teaching methodology wasGrammar-Translation, which placed much emphasis on accuracy and explicitgrammar rules. Zimmerman (1997:9) argued that the main criterion for vocabularyselection was often its ability to illustrate a grammatical rule. During those years,teachers were told a great deal about new discoveries in English grammar.Pronunciation and grammar were emphasized while there was little or no emphasis onvocabulary. Some scholars seemed to believe that the meanings of words could not beadequately taught, so it was better not to teach vocabulary. Fries (1945) argued thatlearning a language was firstly mastering its sound system and its grammaticalstructure rather than acquiring its vocabulary. Virginia French Allen (2002) concludedthe reason for the general neglect of vocabulary learning is that some specialistsfeared students would make mistakes in sentence structure if too many words werelearned before the basic grammar had been mastered. Consequently, teachers were ledto believe it was best not to teach much vocabulary and grammar should beemphasized more than vocabulary.
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Chapter 3 Methodology........ 33
3.1 Introduction ..... 33
3.2 Research Questions ..... 33
3.3 Research Method ......... 33
Chapter 4 Results and discussion .... 41
4.1 Development of Productive Vocabulary ........ 41
4.2 Effects of Metaphor Awareness Raising on Productive Vocabulary..... 44
4.3 Effects of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Training on ProductiveVocabulary ....... 45
Chapter 5 Conclusion ..... 52
5.1 Major Findings ...... 52
5.2 Implications...... 53
5.3 Limitations of the Present Research ........ 55
Chapter 4 Results and discussion
4.1 Development of Productive Vocabulary
To find answers to the first research question, i.e. the effect that metaphorawareness raising and vocabulary learning strategies training have on thedevelopment of productive vocabulary size, the subjects’ compositions were analyzedby Lexical Frequency Profile (LFP), which is used to analyze the productivevocabulary size. With the help of software VocabProfilers, it can calculate thepercentage of low frequency words (academic words and off-list words) used bysubjects in oral or written texts for the measurement of the subject’s productivevocabulary size. According to LFP, a higher percentage of low frequency wordsmeans a larger productive vocabulary size (Liu Donghong 2003).Each composition was analyzed by LFP and the percentage of low frequencywords was calculated. After that, descriptive statistics were carried out by softwareSPSS with the percentages of all the 120 essays.
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Conclusion
This chapter firstly summarizes the major findings of the current study. Then itdiscusses the implications of these findings. Finally, it presents the limitations of thepresent research. The analysis of data shows that the experimental class surpassed the controlledclass in the mastery of learned words. These findings verified the hypothesesconcerning the relationship between metaphor and English vocabulary teaching.According to the data analysis and findings of the experiment, we can draw thefollowing conclusion. On the one hand, the results of the experimental study indicatethat the teaching of metaphors had improved the vocabulary retention and extending,thus students’ productive vocabulary has improved. On the other hand, the subjects’metaphor awareness can be cultivated by classroom activities. The differences ofsystem of different cultures should be attached more importance to when applied inclassroom activities.From the result of the present research, it can also be inferred that vocabularylearning through imagery processing may enhance the later recall in learners’ mind.According to Sokman (1997) and Schmitt (1995), metaphorical expressions based oncertain themes set up a framework for organization and better-organized informationmay result in better learning for the learners. This is the reason why subjects in theexperiment class show great interest in vocabulary learning, while students in thecontrol class show less interest in vocabulary learning.
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