Every language possesses three cardinal elements： phonetic element, lexical element, and grammatical structure, of which lexis is the fundamental pillar that supports the huge system of a language. The close relation...Every language possesses three cardinal elements： phonetic element, lexical element, and grammatical structure, of which lexis is the fundamental pillar that supports the huge system of a language. The close relationship between language and culture is most readily seen in words. In fact, being the most active and elastic element of a language, vocabulary has the greatest culture-loading capacity. Vocabulary teaching is an integral part of foreign language teaching. Its efficiency has a direct relation with the development of the learners＇ communicative competence. Vocabulary is culture-bound, so it is self-evident that culture introduction is indispensable in teaching. The author attempts to make a comparison between English and Chinese cultures, to make clear how cultural disparities exist in English and Chinese vocabulary, and to put forward some constructive suggestions on how to integrate culture into vocabulary teaching in Chinese schools, so as to promote the efficiency of vocabulary teaching and improve learners＇ competence in intercultural communication.展开更多
This study investigates the role of morphological awareness in ESL vocabulary acquisition. Participants were 198 Chinese college students enrolled in a joint program which required them to study in China for the first...This study investigates the role of morphological awareness in ESL vocabulary acquisition. Participants were 198 Chinese college students enrolled in a joint program which required them to study in China for the first two years and then study in the U.K. to complete their degrees. They completed a total of four paper-and-pencil tests： morpheme discrimination, morpheme recognition, vocabulary size test （VST） and word associates test （WAT）. We drew upon path analysis to explore the interconnected relationships among multiple explanatory variables （facets of morphological awareness） and outcome variables （facets of vocabulary knowledge）. The results demonstrated that English derivational awareness was strongly predictive of both ESL vocabulary breadth and ESL vocabulary depth, and that preexisting ESL vocabulary breadth could enhance the relation between derivational awareness and ESL vocabulary depth. To summarize, these results indicate that an improved English derivational awareness not only helps to expand ESL vocabulary size but can also consolidate learners＇ deep understanding of word properties, which will in turn assist them to establish connections with other associative words and phrases.展开更多
文摘Every language possesses three cardinal elements： phonetic element, lexical element, and grammatical structure, of which lexis is the fundamental pillar that supports the huge system of a language. The close relationship between language and culture is most readily seen in words. In fact, being the most active and elastic element of a language, vocabulary has the greatest culture-loading capacity. Vocabulary teaching is an integral part of foreign language teaching. Its efficiency has a direct relation with the development of the learners＇ communicative competence. Vocabulary is culture-bound, so it is self-evident that culture introduction is indispensable in teaching. The author attempts to make a comparison between English and Chinese cultures, to make clear how cultural disparities exist in English and Chinese vocabulary, and to put forward some constructive suggestions on how to integrate culture into vocabulary teaching in Chinese schools, so as to promote the efficiency of vocabulary teaching and improve learners＇ competence in intercultural communication.
文摘This study investigates the role of morphological awareness in ESL vocabulary acquisition. Participants were 198 Chinese college students enrolled in a joint program which required them to study in China for the first two years and then study in the U.K. to complete their degrees. They completed a total of four paper-and-pencil tests： morpheme discrimination, morpheme recognition, vocabulary size test （VST） and word associates test （WAT）. We drew upon path analysis to explore the interconnected relationships among multiple explanatory variables （facets of morphological awareness） and outcome variables （facets of vocabulary knowledge）. The results demonstrated that English derivational awareness was strongly predictive of both ESL vocabulary breadth and ESL vocabulary depth, and that preexisting ESL vocabulary breadth could enhance the relation between derivational awareness and ESL vocabulary depth. To summarize, these results indicate that an improved English derivational awareness not only helps to expand ESL vocabulary size but can also consolidate learners＇ deep understanding of word properties, which will in turn assist them to establish connections with other associative words and phrases.
