The Focuses of Vocabulary Instruction in College English Classroom

Zhou Houyin

【Abstract】Vocabulary instruction is a vital part in English teaching. The paper sorts out four types of errors related to the usage of words based on the analyzing of some college students writing assignments. And some suggestions are given based on the analyses on the classroom vocabulary instruction. First， a teacher should design proper tasks in class as well as after class to help students facilitate their vocabulary acquisition. Second， the errors committed by students should be analyzed systematically. The teacher should make students notice their errors and master the usage of these words.

【Key Words】Vocabulary Instruction; College English Classroom; Analysis

【作者簡介】Zhou Houyin，Wuhan Qingchuan University.

Ⅰ.Introduction

The study of vocabulary instruction is always a focus of Foreign Language Learning （FLL） because vocabulary and grammar are two basic parts involve in language learning. According to connectionist they are different in terms of to which domain of language knowledge they belong. They thought there is a distinction between higher and lower domains of language knowledge based on the degree of abstractivity of the linguistic units. Grammar belongs to higher level because it is more abstract and lexical units belong to lower level because “it is at this level that linguistic forms are matched with meanings”. Hulstijn also points out that because of their frequency and relative permanency， lexical units are identified automatically by skilled language user （2002）. Learning to recognize spoken and written words is a process that is subject to the power law of practice （Ellis， 2002）. Consequently， memorization and practice play an important role in FLL and vocabulary instruction demands teachers attaching attention to this.

In this paper some typical erroneous forms of different types are collected from college students writing assignments and analyzed to find out the deep causes underlying these errors. At last some suggestions in relation to vocabulary instruction in college English classroom will be given.

1. Data Analysis. Based on the data collected， there are mainly four types of errors related to usage of words. They are 1）. Ill-spelling， 2）. Ill collocation， 3）. Misuse of vocabulary， and.4）. Confusion of part of speech（The sentences that marked with “*” are ill-formed and the following sentence is corrected one）.

（1） Ill-spelling. * It is of great significance for us to develope a good habit of in study It is of great significance for us to develop a good habit in study.

The spelling errors can usually be found among beginning learners whose vocabulary is limited and there are no alternative forms for substitution when s/he is not sure about the spelling of them. The cause of this kind of error is not as common as errors that caused by different transfers or communicative strategies but a pure inaccurate memorization of words. So accurate memorization is a very important part for the acquire “accuracy” in second language learning.

（2） Ill-collocation. * I dont believe his opinion.I dont believe him. Here “his opinion” is a redundancy caused by the differences between the native language and the target language. In Chinese we may say “相信他的觀點”，however，in English， believe somebody means “believe what somebody says”. This kind of error is very common in FL learners output. It is necessary for teacher to collect the data of this kind errors and give special focus on these forms in classroom instruction.

（3）Misuse of vocabulary. * It only spends us 10 minutes to go to school. It only takes us 10 minutes to go to school. Here the misuses “spend” is also caused by a transfer of learners native language. In Chinese， verb “hua （花）” can be used to express “spend money on something” or “spend some time on doing something”. But the equivalent of Chinese verb “hua （花）” in English may use different words， for example， the three words “take （time）”， “spend （time or money， the subject is a person）” and “cost （money， the subject is something）”. And the difficulty here for Chinese learners may be the same of the second example above. The same word in Chinese may correspond more than one English words at the same time.

（4）Syntactic or Morphological Error . * I have failed over and over in my life， and that is why I can success.I have failed over and over in my life， and that is why I can succeed.

The error in the sentence may be caused either by students null concept of the English syntactic or morphological rule， or it may result from the students unawareness of both of the rules. And usually there is a form difference between the words which derived from the same lexical root but have different part of speech. This kind of error is also caused under the influence of students native language. In Chinese there are no form differences between a verb and a noun. Take “chenggong （成功）” in Chinese as an example：

（verb） 一旦你成功地做不像他們那樣的人，你就迷失了。（But if you succeed in not being like them， you lose.）

（noun） 我們都曾經相信工作是成功的關鍵。（We all believed that work was the key to success.）

From the analyses above it can be seen the negative transfers of native language contribute greatly to resulting in these errors. But the data collected here is not an exhaustive one and no any conclusion can be given. For example， there are some errors of vocabulary usage may be caused by cultural factors that we can just get some hints on the vocabulary instruction in college classroom rather than any theoretical support on a special vocabulary instruction method.

Ⅱ. Some Implications on Vocabulary Instruction in College Classroom

Vocabulary learning is usually thought as a boring and painstaking for it is a work related to memorization and practice. However， holding this opinion in vocabulary teaching may exert some negative affective effects on language learners and then impede their FL learning. From the data above we can see that although college students begin their college English study with certain proficiency， instructions in classroom still play a role in their vocabulary learning. Generally speaking， to use words appropriately and the memorization of words are both important for language learners. A teacher can accordingly adopt the following suggestions on vocabulary instruction in classroom.

First， teachers should be aware of what are the difficulties for students in their vocabulary study. These difficulties can be sorted out based on the analyses above and corresponding measures can be taken in classroom instruction. Second， according to a connectionist view， lexical units belong to the lower level of language domain which， compared with grammar， are more demanding on the power law of practice， which implicates is that in college English classroom， students should be encouraged to do more practice because output is a necessary and effective way of learning. The practices can be task-based in forms of listening， speaking， reading， and writing. This can help students to be accessible to the vocabulary of the target language via different ways. Third， the traditional way of vocabulary instruction should be changed into a more contextualized one， i.e. the words should be taught contextually rather than in isolation. Last， students should be encouraged to do more extensive reading after class to facilitate their vocabulary acquisition. Because many researches prove that the acquisition of vocabulary mostly happens incidentally rather than with instructional intent. According to this statement， the adjustment of the instructional role of teachers is necessary. What a teacher should do is to design some appropriate tasks based on his/her knowledge about language learning as homework to help learner acquire vocabulary in a most effective way.

Ⅲ. Conclusion

From the discussion above， the role a teacher plays here is to design proper tasks which can facilitate students acquisition of vocabulary. And regarding those vocabulary which may be misused， the instructions can be a way of causing learners “noticing” and play a facilitative role in the acquisition of the appropriate use of these words.

References：

[1]Coder， S.P.（1967）. The Significance of Learners Errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics， 9， 147-60.

[2]Ellis， N. C.（2002）. Frequency effects in language processing： A review with implications for theories of imp licit and exp licit language acquisition. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 24， 143 -188.

[3]Hulstijn， J. H. （2002）. Towards a Unified Account of the Representation， Processing and Acquisition of Second Language Knowledge. Second Language Research 18，193-223.