Ｔｈｅ Ｓｔｒａｔｅｇｉｅｓ ｔｏ Ｓｔｉｍｕｌａｔｅ Ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ’Ｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔ ｉｎ Ｖｏｃａｂｕｌａｒｙ Ｌｅａｒｎｉｎｇ

［摘 要］Vocabulary acquisition is of great importance to second language acquisition．However，many students complain that vocabulary learning is boring and tough．Many language teachers may find themselves trapped between the necessity of teaching vocabulary and its\"dull\"reputation．This paper，based on Krashen's Input Hypothesis and Affective Filter Hypothesis as well as the author's actual teaching experiences，discusses strategies for improving vocabulary teaching efficiency and stimulating students' interest in vocabulary learning．

［關鍵詞］Input hypothesis Affective Filter Hypothesis Vocabulary Teaching Strategy Students' Learning Interest

［中圖分類號］H159 ［文獻標識碼］A ［文章編號］1009－5489(2008)02－139－04

1 Introduction

Words are the building blocks of a language．Despite quite small pieces，they are vital to the great structure．English is a rich language with extensive vocabulary．Vocabulary acquisition is the most basic，decisive yet difficult part in English learning．A good mastery of vocabulary improves all areas of communication——listening，speaking，reading and writing．As Wilkins said，\"Without grammar very little can be conveyed； without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed．\"Although vocabulary building is very beneficial，many college students complain that it's very difficult to memorize new words．Even when they have already learnt the new words by heart，most of them don't know how to use them properly．There are two reasons to account for this phenomenon．The first reason is rooted in the English language itself．English is such a complicated language that factors such as similarity in form and morphology，deceptive morphological structure，abstractness，connotations nonexistent in L2's native language，differences in the pragmatic meaning of near synonyms and first language equivalents all pose great difficulty on vocabulary learning．The second and more important reason is that most students show no interest in vocabulary learning．In the English classroom，new words are often presented in a dull and dry manner and students receive them passively，feeling bored．After class，students reluctantly learn the words for the test and promptly forget them．The first reason is objective and we can do nothing about it．As for the second reason，it's the role of English teachers to make vocabulary learning lively and interesting，hence inspiring students and stimulating their interest．

2 Theoretical Rationale

Stephen Krashen(University of Southern California)is an expert in the field of linguistics，specializing in theories of language acquisition and development．His theory of second language acquisition which is widely known and well accepted has a large impact in all areas of second language research and teaching since the 1980s．Krashen's theory of second language acquisition consists of five main hypotheses：the Acquisition-Learning hypothesis，the Monitor hypothesis，the Natural Order hypothesis，the Input hypothesis，and the Affective Filter hypothesis．In his book Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition，Stephen Krashen states that\"What theory implies，quite simply，is that language acquisition，first or second，occurs when comprehension of real messages occurs，and when the acquirer is not 'on the defensive'．．．Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules，and does not require tedious drill．It does not occur overnight，however．Real language acquisition develops slowly，and speaking skills emerge significantly later than listening skills，even when conditions are perfect．The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations，containing messages that students really want to hear．These methods do not force early production in the second language，but allow students to produce when they are 'ready'，recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input，and not from forcing and correcting production．\"

This thesis mainly adopts Krashen' Input hypothesis and Affective Filter hypothesis for analysis．According to the input hypothesis，a language acquirer who is at\"level i\"must receive comprehensible input that is at\"level i+1．\"\"We acquire，in other words，only when we understand language that contains structure that is 'a little beyond' where we are now．\"This hypothesis answers the question of how a language acquirer develops competency over time．Language learners' effective interpretation of\"i+1\"materials is possible，if supported by the context of the language they are hearing or reading and their knowledge of the world．According to the affective filter hypothesis，successful second language acquisition is closely related to learner's attitude．Negative attitudes(including a lack of motivation or self-confidence and anxiety)are said to act as a filter，which prevents the input form reaching the part of learner's mind responsible for acquisition．To be specific，a raised affective filter can block input from reaching SL learner； a lowered affective filter allows the input to\"strike deeper\"and to be acquired．The practical application of the Input hypothesis and Affective Filter Hypothesis is that it is language teachers' responsibility to maintain a classroom environment that provides a low affective filter to maximize language acquisition．For this reason，vocabulary teaching should be presented in a lively and interesting way in order to relieve the boredom of learning and arouse students' interest．Once students' interest in vocabulary acquisition is sparked，they will not find memorizing new words that difficult．What is more，they tend to apply new words into practice actively．

3 Strategies to stimulate students' interest in vocabulary learning

3．1 Use well-designed example sentences

Krashen puts forth the idea that acquisition of a language depends almost entirely on the students' being exposed to comprehensible input．In vocabulary teaching，this exposure often takes the form of example sentences．It's a good idea to give students example sentences containing the word or phrase so that they know how to use it．Although most sample sentences used are comprehensible，they are uninteresting and dull，failing to make a deep impression on students．Many students complain that vocabulary learning is dull，dry and unfruitful．In this case，we can use some interesting example sentences to develop students' interest．Interesting example sentences will not only stimulate students' interest in the new word but also make the new word impressive to students．What's more，they help to create an active and lively classroom atmosphere which is very beneficial to learning．The following are some techniques of designing good sample sentences．

3．1．1 Example sentences which kindle students' interest

It's universally acknowledged that interest plays an important role in one's study，as the saying goes，'Interest is the best teacher．' In my English class，about three-fourth students in my class are male and most of them are football fans．One boy is captain of our university's football team．Having noticed this，I deliberately added some football information to example sentences whenever possible．For example，when teaching the word\"skillful\"，I used the following example sentence．

Ex 1-1 Zidane is a skillful football player．

As we know，Zidane is a famous football player and many football fans are crazy about him．When I displayed this sentence on power-point，I could see that there were smiles on boys' faces．I asked one boy to translate this sentence into Chinese，and he promptly relied：“齊達內是個球技精湛的足球運動員”．Then I asked the whole class，\"who else do you think is also a skillful football player？\"Another boy immediately stood up and said，\"I think．．．is also a skillful football player，even more skillful than Zidane\"．Then other students protested and a heated discussion was going to be started．Since time is limited，I prevented the discussion by asking students to write down their own opinion in English after class．In order to reinforce students' understanding of the word\"skillful\"，I gave another example sentence，

Ex 1-2 那位女演員長得漂亮且演技精湛．

This time students were asked to translate it to English，using the word\"skillful\"，which should serve as a predicate in this sentence．I asked one student to translate it and he gave me the correct translation：\"That actress is both beautiful and skillful\"．And then I asked him\"which actress do you think is both beautiful and skillful？\"He answered\"Liu Yifei\"．And the whole class exploded into laughter．At this point，I summarized the usage of the word\"skillful\"．Firstly，if we want to express“技藝精湛”，we can use the word\"skillful\"．Secondly，\"skillful\"can function as an attribute as well as a predicate．

3．1．2 Example sentences on latest news or hot topics

Example sentences which are about latest news or hot topics will attract students' attention，provoke students' thinking and evoke active response．They assist students in memorizing new words．For example，when teaching the word\"reveal\"，I used the following example sentence：

Ex 1-3 Insiders reveal that Huang Jianxiang is going to resign from CCTV．

As we know，the resignation of famous football commentator Huang Jianxiang from CCTV was on everyone's lips．So this example sentence was very eye-catching．It not only showed students the meaning and usage of the word 'reveal'，but also leaved a deep impression on students．Furthermore，students learnt another two words\"insider\"and\"resign\"as a plus，the meaning of which they were able to guess from the context．

Ex 1-4

She wanted to participate in Super-girl Voice Contest，but her father soon nipped that idea in the bud．

Super-girl Voice Contest has become a TV hit and triggered a heated discussion in China．But for ordinary families，to have a super girl is to have a financial disaster．So the above example sentence set up a good context for students to understand the meaning and usage of the phrase\"nip in the bud\"．

3．1．3 Example sentences which help students appreciate the beauty of language and enhance their language sense

Both Chinese and English are beautiful languages．Beautiful sentences are touching，impressive and memorable．What's more，they will enhance our language sense and improve our writing skills．As for vocabulary acquisition，the context is indispensable to the true understanding of the word．When a new word is seen in the context of a beautiful sentence，it has a better chance to strike our mind，and thus to inscribe itself more deeply in our memory．If it's presented in the middle of a list of dry and disconnected words，without soul or life，then it would be elusive．So in vocabulary teaching，we can use some beautiful example sentences or their beautiful Chinese translations to impress our students．For example，when teaching the word\"sneak\"，I used the following sentence．

Ex 1-5 the sneak attack of loneliness

I asked students to translate this phrase into Chinese，and most of them look bewildered．They knew\"sneak attack\"meant“偷襲”in Chinese，but when this phrase collocated with loneliness，they were confused．When I told them that it could possibly be translated into“寂寞的感覺偷偷襲上心來”，some of them laughed，some of them nodded in appreciation and others hurried to take the sentence down in the notebook．

Ex 1-6 Standing on the beach，I could hear the waves crashing against the shore．

This example sentence was used to teach the word\"crash\"．Students could understand this sentence easily．But this doesn't mean that they may think of the word\"crash\"when they want to use it．In order to deepen their impression of this word，I reminded them of a line in the famous poem“赤壁懷古”written by“蘇軾”-“亂石穿空，驚濤拍岸，卷起千堆雪．”And“驚濤拍岸”can be translated into\"The waves crash against the shore\"．“赤壁懷古”is a classic poem which almost every student has learnt by heart．So when the word\"crash\"is put in such a context，it became very attractive to students．

3．1．4 Example sentences which are relevant to students' life

Example sentences which are relevant to students' life can easily attract students' attention and arouse their interest．For example，

Ex 1-7 What is the proportion of male to female students in BUPT？

This example sentence is used to demonstrate the meaning and usage of the word\"proportion\"．This question evoked an active response from students．In order to draw their attention to the usage of the word，students were asked to answer this question in full sentence instead of simply giving a figure．

Ex 1-8 從烽火狼煙到光纖通信

Translation：From signal fire to optical communication

This sentence was the title of an article I happened to see on the internet．It was used to teach the word\"signal\"for two reasons．Firstly，students in my class major either in telecommunication engineering or in information engineering．“光纖通信”was within their field of study．So they were eager to know how to say“光纖通信”in English．Secondly，this sentence aroused students' curiosity about the connection between signal fire and optical communication．China is the first country in the world to use fire to send information．The legend of Emperor Zhou You Wang fooling his generals by signal fire goes down from one generation to another．Nowadays，china enjoys high reputation in the field of signal fire．Students listened attentively when I told them the background information．

3．2 Use pictures

Visuals are advantageous to language teaching and learning．Effective use of pictures in the language classroom contributes to stimulating students' interest，imagination and creativity．Just as the saying goes，\"a picture is worth a thousand words．\"In vocabulary teaching，the proper use of pictures will promote students' understanding of the words and deepen their impression of the words．Take the phrase\"crack\"for example．

Figure 1：A Picture to Illustrate Word Crack

To students，\"crack\"is a new word．To explain this word，firstly，students were told that a crack means\"a line along which something has broken\"．Then the following picture taken from the well-known film Ice Age was displayed to show students directly and vividly what a crack is and how it looks like．It's easy for students to understand the meaning of\"crack\"，yet it may be difficult for student to gain a deep impression of this word．This picture associates the word\"crack\"with a popular movie and provides a meaningful context for students to remember the word．Furthermore，I invited students to describe this picture in English to the rest of the class．In this way，students were\"force\"to use the word\"crack\"．As a result，\"crack\"became a positive word to students because they knew how to use this word．And I further used two interesting example sentences to show students how to use\"crack\"as a verb．But there is a principle which should be born in mind：never give students too much information about a word at one time otherwise they will fail to digest it well and thus feel anxious．

Ex 2-2 Leap：jump

Leap means\"to jump\"．Its meaning is very easy for student to understand．But as we know，the forms of linguistic signs bear no natural relationship to their meanings．So the difficult point here is not how to make the word clear to students，but how to help students remember this word easily and deeply．Firstly，I asked students to guess the equivalent of\"leap-frog\"in Chinese．Students became excited and went into active murmuring．But they failed to give a correct answer．Then I used the following picture to show its meaning．The instant I displayed the picture on the screen，the whole class exploded into laughter．

Figure 2：A Picture to Illustrate Word Leap

This picture showed a game almost everyone has played in their childhood——leap-frog．To strike while the iron is hot，I asked them to guess the meaning of the idiom\"Look before you leap\"．This time，they worked out its meaning quickly：“三思而后行”．To further enhance students' understanding of this word，I showed them the following classical picture．This picture shows the first human visit to the Moon．And there is a sentence on it\"That's one small step for man，one giant leap for

Figure 3：A Figure to Illustrate Word Leap

mankind\"．Students were required to translate it into Chinese．In this way，students could gain a comprehensive understanding of the word\"leap\"，not only its spelling and meaning，but also its usage．

Without the help of such a visual aid，the vocabulary teaching would not be this efficient and the classroom atmosphere would not be that active．

4 Conclusion

The Affective Filter Hypothesis，developed by Steven Krashen states that for optimal learning to occur the affective filter must be weak．A weak affective filter means that a positive attitude towards learning is present．If the affective filter is strong the learner will not seek language input，and in turn，not be open for language acquisition．Many students show no interest in vocabulary acquisition，hence lacking motivation．So teachers must apply certain strategies to make vocabulary interesting and meaningful．Once students' interest is aroused，their motivation to learn words is activated and the affective filter will be low．As a result，both teaching and learning will bear fruit．

5 Acknowledgments

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to my supervisor，professor Wang bin．Without his guidance this thesis wouldn't have been possible．I also want to express my gratitude to my classmates who gave me valuable advice on the thesis writing．

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