Effects of Presenting New Words in Semantic Sets or Semantically Unrelated Sets on English Vocabulary Acquisition for Chinese Primary School Students文献综述

 2022-08-29 10:08

Effects of Presenting New Words in Semantic Sets or Semantically Unrelated Sets on English Vocabulary Acquisition for Chinese Primary School Students

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the effect on vocabulary acquisition of teaching new words via two different methods. According to the findings of Tinkham (1993), introducing new English words with semantic relatedness at the same time may actually hinder young learners to remember and retain the meaning of the target words. One class, including 31 sixth graders in Hangzhou Greentown Yuhua Primary School, were taught 40 carefully selected words either in semantic sets or semantically unrelated sets. The experiment was consisted of several steps, in which pre-tests were given before each presentation of these selected English words and the same post-tests were repeated as an immediate one just after the presentation and as a delayed test with a reshuffled order to prevent any memory effects as practiced in the field. All these were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of both teaching methods. Then what under the investigation was the effect of these two methods on post-tests completion and the scores which participants obtained in test paper. According to the statistical analysis, learning new words in semantically unrelated sets proves to be better than in semantically related sets. The gap was obvious in the long term. Furthermore, according to the test observation, the time that those young learners spent on the post-tests was much longer for the semantically related vocabulary items, which indicated a slower recall of the target words.

The result of this paper, contrary to frequent practice in many English textbooks and classes, revealed that presenting new words in the same semantic set may cause interference because of cross-association and may even hinder learning of English vocabulary. Therefore such practice, teaching English words in semantic sets, needs to be questioned and further tested. At the same time, the author attempted to explore the possibility of an alternative method of selection and presentation to make learning of English words easier, which may involve introducing vocabulary in semantically unrelated sets. But still it needs further developing and utilizing.

Keywords: Interference theory; semantic set; semantically unrelated set; vocabulary acquisition

Literature review

Vocabulary learning is a crucial factor in second language acquisition (SLA). Just as Wilkins (1972) once illustrated, “without grammar, little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”. A certain amount of vocabulary acts as the basis of all the language skills and proficiency and also an integral part of communicative competence. The question then arises as to how to present vocabulary in the most beneficial way to facilitate words learning and comprehension.

With this query in mind, the present study explored the effects of grouping new words in semantic sets and in semantically unrelated vocabulary items. Thus the thesis sought answers to the following research questions: 1) What are the effects of presenting English words in semantic sets and semantically unrelated sets on vocabulary acquisition? 2) Is presenting new English words in semantically unrelated sets more effective than semantic sets for Chinese primary school studentsrsquo; English vocabulary learning? 3) Are there any guidelines on English vocabulary acquisition for Chinese primary school students? What are they? However, of all the dimensions of studies on the presentation methods, there are several controversies. Thus the author tried to organize them into “for” and “against” parts to clarify the topic.

Researches abroad

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