5.1.2 Major Causes 12

5.2 Suggestions to improve the low efficiency of vocabulary memorization 12

5.3 Limitations and prospects 13

References 14

Appendix 15

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the Research 

Vocabulary is a significant part of language, without which one cannot convey his message effectively or express his ideas not only in oral forms but also in written forms. Thus if one can’t master a certain amount of vocabulary, one may mostly fail to communicate or actually loses the meaning of language learning. So it is of great importance for students to memorize and master vocabulary in their English study. 

During my internship in a junior high School-Baochu pagoda Experimental School, I have found that the pattern of morning reading in this school is quite different from my personal experience. In this school, students are only allowed to read together. In such conditions, a lot of students are likely to read without paying enough attention to what they are reading, just like an apprentice monk reciting scriptures. That is to say, they are not devoted to what they are doing or what they are supposed to do. A few of the students read silently or even don’t read at all. They just sit there silently or do other things which are irrelevant with the morning reading. So a lot of students failed to memorize the vocabulary as it is showed their dictation work as well as the word spelling part of the tests. 

English morning reading, as a routine work among the Chinese education model, gives a regular stage for students to study English. It provides students with the opportunities to memorize language items, including vocabulary so they can get prepared for the English class. It is a period that can be controlled by teacher. What’s more, compared with other time, necessary help can be provided timely by the teacher if there are some problems when students are memorizing vocabulary. In this way, students can solve the problem in time and memorize the vocabulary better. 

1.2 Purpose of the Research 

My thesis is about to analyze the current situation of the efficiency of memorizing vocabulary in morning reading among junior high school students, trying to figure out the reasons or the influencing factors and to seek a better way, mainly about what teachers can do in morning reading, in order to improve it. If the problems can be found and solved, the efficiency of memorizing vocabulary may also be improved. Then it will provide students with the opportunity to save time for other tasks and make full use of the morning reading. In this way students’ English leaning may be gradually improved. 

 2. Literary Review

This chapter includes the following aspects: the first part is about the definition of vocabulary. The second part is about the importance of vocabulary in English learning based on the New National English Curriculum Standard 2011 and related researches. The third part is about the relationship between reading aloud and memory.

2.1 The Definition of Vocavulary

As one of the three essential elements in language, vocabulary is an indispensable part in English learning. Katamba (2005) defined words as “the smallest meaningful linguistic unit which can be used independently. It is a form that cannot be pided into any smaller units that can be used on their own to convey meaning”. The Oxford Online Dictionary (2010) gave the definition of word: “a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used to form sentences with others”. And Harmer (1990) even compared the vocabulary to “important organs” as well as “blood and flesh”. 

2.2 The Importance of Vocabulary in English Language Learning