摘 要
根据国家英语课程标准，初中英语教学的目标是培养学生的综合英语语言能力，包括语言知识、语言技能、文化意识、学习策略和情感态度。地方词汇学习和积累是提高学生听、说、读、写能力的重要前提和基础，在初中生英语学习中发挥着重要作用。然而，由于学生的词汇记忆和词汇使用不当，英语初中听力教学仍存在一些问题。语块理论是一种主要研究定义、分类、特点、教学优势和教学实践的语言理论。它为听力教学带来了新的思路，对解决学生的词汇理解、记忆和应用问题起着至关重要的作用。因此，本文旨在探讨当前初中英语听力教学中存在的问题
关键词：语言语块理论；初中英语听力教学；应用
Abstract
According to the national English curriculum standards, the goal of junior high school English teaching is to cultivate students’ comprehensive English language ability, including language knowledge, language skills, cultural awareness, learning strategies and emotional attitude. Locabulary learning and accumulation are an important prerequisite and foundation for improving students’ ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing, and play an important role in English learning for junior high school students. However, there are still problems in English junior high school vocabulary teaching as students’ vocabulary memory and inaccurate vocabulary use. Block theory is a language theory that mainly studies the definition, classification, characteristics, teaching advantages and teaching practice. It brings new ideas to vocabulary teaching, and plays a vital role in solving students’ vocabulary understanding, memory, and application problems. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the current problems in junior middle school English listening teaching
Key words: language block theory, junior high school English listening teaching, application
1. Introduction
1.1 Research Background
According to the national English curriculum standards, the goal of middle school English teaching is to develop comprehensive English language skills, which includes language knowledge, language skills, cultural awareness, learning strategies, and emotional attitudes. As one of the three elements of language, listening teaching plays an irreplaceable role in improving the comprehensive ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Linguist Wilkins (1972) 11th pressures: people cannot convey a lot of information without grammar, and people cannot convey anything without vocabulary. Therefore, the importance of vocabulary learning in language learning is obvious. Vocabulary learning and accumulation, as an important prerequisite and foundation for improving listening, speaking, reading and writing language skills, play an important role in Middle school English learning.
However, there are still some problems in middle school English listening teaching. Words are often repeated and interpreted in separation or in other words outside the context. When teaching or learning a vocabulary, teachers and students usually pay great attention to its sound, form, and means, while ignoring how to use the vocabulary in the context. Thus, many primary learners learn and store vocabulary and grammar in isolation, ignoring their relationships, and pay great attention to vocabulary use. Therefore, learners have difficulty understanding the meaning of words, memorizing words, and failing to apply flexible and accurate vocabulary.
1.2 Study purpose and significance
Language block theory refers to the linguistic theory with language block as the research object, and studies its definition, classification, characteristics, theoretical basis and the advantages of teaching practice. Moreover, language block theory can promote the acquisition, memory and application of vocabulary, improve the fluency, correctness and habituation of language, and improve the confidence of language learners. Based on the advantages of the block theory in the English listening teaching, this paper tries to apply the block theory to the junior middle school English listening teaching. Therefore, this paper first through the literature research to study the domestic foreign language block vocabulary research situation, and then through the interview analysis of junior middle school English vocabulary teaching present situation and problems, and then introduce the block theory and its advantages in English listening teaching, put forward the block theory applied to junior middle school English listening teaching, and finally discusses the language of block theory in improving the concrete application of Middle school English listening teaching strategy.
2.Literature Review
With the increasing attention to the role of chunks in SLA, the importance of chunks has been widely recognized in academic circles. Many language researchers at home and abroad have done a great amount of research and exploration on chunks from different angles. This chapter mainly reviews the research on chunks from two levels: research on chunks at abroad and research on chunks at home.
2.1 Chunk theory
Chunk theory is a kind of linguistic theory that takes chunk as the research object, and studies its definition, classification, characteristics, theoretical basis, advantages of teaching and teaching practice, and so on.
2.1.1 The definition of chunk
With the rise and development of corpus language, language researchers have found that there is a great deal of fixed or semi fixed language structures between vocabulary and grammar. This kind of language structure has certain stability and conventionality, which is usually stored and used as a whole. Different scholars use different terms to describe this language structure. The main terms used abroad are prefabricated phrase, lexicalized sentence steps, formula and so on. The research on chunk in China also uses different terms, such as “language chunk”, “chunking”, “lexical chunk”, “program language”, “prefabricated chunk”, etc. It is not hard to see that these terms have conceptual differences: some focus on phrase level, some focus on sentence framework, some focus on the prefabrication of structure. This thesis will adopt the term of “chunk”, which is accepted by most scholars in the field of chunk research at home.
Due to different terms, different scholars define chunks differently. Wray pointed out that chunks are a series of words or other meaning units that can be stored in memory as a whole, extracted directly when used, and do not need grammar generation and analysis (Wray 2002); Wang lifei and Qian Juan believed that chunks are a group with high frequency of occurrence stored, extracted and produced integrally (Wang Lifei, Qian Juan, 2009:116); Jiang Yuhong defined chunks as a special multi word lexical phenomenon, which includes not only the relatively fixed combination of phrasal verbs, compound words, fixed collocations, idioms, idioms, etc., but also the unfixed phrase frame and sentence frame (Jiang Yuhong, 2008: 86-87). Through the analysis, it can be found that such definitions are based on the content, methods, perspectives and paradigms of case studies. In order to having a more comprehensive understanding chunks, the author integrates these definitions, and concludes that chunks are composed of multiple words or other meaning units, determined by context comparison, and memorized, stored and extracted by individuals, which have functions and features of vocabulary and grammar and whose form, structure and meaning are relatively fixed, and usually as a whole, for example, in this way, Thank you very much!, a long time ago, I think…, and so on.
2.1.2 The classification of chunks
Since the rise of Chunk Theory, numerous researchers have classified chunks from different perspectives. And there are two representative categories:
（1） Lewis’s classification of chunks
According to the semantic connection and syntactic function of vocabulary, Lewis divided chunks into four types: a) poly-words: poly-words refer to fixed phrases with idiomatic properties, such as on the one hand, for instance, in a word, etc.; b) collocates: collocates refer to words with high co-occurrence frequency, such as verbs + nouns (such as put forward a suggestion); c) institutionalized utterances: institutionalized utterances refer to fixed or semi fixed word combinations with pragmatic functions, which can be complete sentences or some fixed sentence structures, including epigrams, idioms, etc. For example, as far as I am concerned, what can I do for you? You are welcome. I’m behind…, etc. d) sentence framework and heads: sentence framework and heads are commonly used in written language, as a means of text organization, whose forms and functions are usually fixed or semi fixed, for example, first, finally, It is said that…,etc.
（2） Pawley and Synder’s classification of chunks
Pawley & Synder (1983) divided chunks into four categories according to the cohesive function of words in the text: a) poly-words, such as by and large, nevertheless, etc. Traditionally, these words have been classified as phrases, but now they are regarded as the special form of multi-words. As the form of discourse cohesion, they are treated as the whole form like words not only in understanding but also in writing. b) Institutionalized expressions: mainly refer to the language building blocks that the speaker can use to store as a whole, including proverbs, epigrams, communication routines and other forms, for example, have a nice day (farewell), once upon a time. c) Phrasal constraints: usually short blocks that can be filled in. For example, a day ago, a long time ago; as I was…: as I was saying, as I was commenting; the simple the better; the busier, the happier. d) Sentence builders: sentence builders provide a sentence structure for expressing a concept and the content of the framework may change. For example, I think that it’s a good idea. I think that you’re right.
By analyzing the above detailed categories, it can be found that chunks are not only different from idiom, but also different from free collocation. The structure of idioms does not allow any change, which means there is no room for creation. Free collocation is a temporary combination, lacking predictability, which is not conducive to mastering, while chunk is just a semi fixed collocation between them. If a lexical sequence often appears in the form of co-occurrence, has a relatively stable form in structure and a relatively specific range in pragmatic function and meaning, it will be used as a conventional chunk eventually. In addition, from the listed chunk classification, we can also see a significant feature. From the lexical level to the sentence level, the structural fixity of chunks is gradually weakening and the modifiability is gradually increasing, that is, the space within chunk for pragmatic change becomes larger and larger, which can be used as a space for creative use of vocabulary, which is the space to be developed in vocabulary teaching.
2.1.3 The features of chunks
Chunks have three important characteristics. The first characteristic is the frequency of chunk co-occurrence: The frequency of chunk occurrence is the decisive factor to determine whether a language combination unit belongs to chunk. To determine whether a language combination unit belongs to chunk, it is necessary to see whether it often co-occurs together. If the frequency is very high, it can be identified. The second characteristic is the integrity of chunk storage and extraction.
Whether the combination of words can be stored and extracted as a whole (that is, psychological reality) is an important indicator to determine whether the combination of words is a chunk. Wray (2002) elaborated two functions of idiom sequence or lexical block: one is to reduce the reduction of processing effort; the other is to complete the function of social interaction. To achieve these two functions, chunks must be stored and extracted as a whole. The third characteristic is the memorizable rhythm chunks. The prosody of multi-word combination is also an important factor of determining whether chunks can be effectively remembered. Chunks are numerous and ubiquitous. According to the data of computer statistics, 90% of the natural language is made up of all kinds of lexical chunks with fixed semantic, that is to say, most of the discourse is realized through lexical chunks which are the basic language unit of English. It is unrealistic for learners to memorize a large number of chunks by rote. Teachers should guide learners to learn and memorize these chunks. Therefore, it is particularly important to determine the criteria of chunk learnability, that is, which chunks can be learned? What are the criteria for selection? Lewis’s lexical approach advocates that the frequency and integrity of lexical combinations is two important criteria to establish chunk learnability. In addition, rhythmicity is also in keeping with the characteristics of Chinese students’ language learning. Those chunks with strong rhythmic catchy speech can arouse the interest of learners, stimulate the exciting points of the brain, and be easy to remember. Therefore, the prosody of chunk should be an important criterion of chunk learnability.
2.2 Related Research at Home and Abroad
2.2.1 Research on chunks abroad
The research on chunks abroad can be traced back to 150 years ago (Wang Lifei, Chen Xianglan, 2009: 90). As a matter of fact, the concept of chunks originated from an American psychologist, George A. Miller, who first proposed the concept of chunks in memory in 1956. And then, the concept of chunks was quoted by linguists to the field of language (Jiang Yuhong, 2008: 87; Dong Liyun, 2010: 17). In the following decades, foreign language researchers have conducted plenty of research and experiments on chunks, and have achieved comparatively fruitful results. Based on the literature review of the studies of chunks abroad, the author finds that the studies of chunks abroad mainly focus on the following three aspects: a) the development of chunks; b) the acquisition differences of chunks; c) The application of Chunk Theory in English teaching.
a) The development of chunks
The development of chunks has always been one of the key topics in the field of SLA. Perera (2001) studied the use of chunks in English learning among four children. The results show that chunks exert a crucial part in the initial stage of second language acquisition and are the basis of creative use of language. Ellis (2002:190) pointed out that as far as foreign language learners are concerned, “idiomatic expressions are not prominent at the initial stage, nor disappear at the later acquisition stage.” Another important finding of chunk research is that foreign language learners will avoid using chunks when they find their own weaknesses in using chunks.
b) Differences in chunk acquisition
Whether there are differences in chunk learning among different foreign language learners is another focus of SLA research. Wiktorsson (2003) conducted a study on the use of chunks in Swedish second language learners’ limited time writing. The results showed that second language learners from Swedish tend to use more chunks in their writing than native speakers, but the chunks they use are more colloquial, less authentic and mostly informal. In addition, she also found that the higher the level of English learning, the more chunks are used, and vice versa; the errors in chunk use mainly lie in the errors in style use; chunk is more affected by the mother tongue. Bradley (2003) collected and analyzed the data of seven American students and seven German students in an authoritative oral German test. He found that American students use more non filler chunks such as vocabulary, grammatical structure and lexical complements, and they also use more kinds of chunks. Therefore, the study suggests that the use of chunks can help American students to respond in a difficult language environment and make them feel better at foreign languages.
c) The application of Chunk Theory in English teaching
As chunks can effectively improve language proficiency, the field of SLA and the field of English teaching have begun to pay attention to the teaching of chunks. Lewis, as the representative of the experts, was the first to advocate the direct application of Chunk Theory in teaching. Hsu (2002) took nine Taiwanese college students as the research object, and further studied the correlation between the use of chunks and the language fluency and collocation proficiency of learners. Through the research, he found that there is an obvious positive correlation between the use of chunks and learners’ foreign language proficiency, and the use of chunks is influenced by many factors, such as personal learning experience, learning motivation, differences between mother tongue and foreign language, etc.
Through combing the research of more than half a century abroad, it can be found that the research process of chunks has the following characteristics: a) the contents of research in different periods are different, such as word level structure, phrase structure and sentence framework; b) the perspectives of research are different, some from the perspective of grammar, some from the perspective of psychology, and some from the perspective of form; c) The fields of research are expanding.
2.2.2 Research on chunks at home
Compared with foreign countries, the research on chunks at home started at the end of 1990s. However, in the past decade, the research on chunks at home has developed rapidly and achieved fruitful results. In this paper, CNKI is used as the search engine to search. According to the search results: before 2000 (including 2000), there were only a few articles on the research of chunks; the research with a slightly larger scale should start from 2001, and from 2001 to 2010, the number of articles on the research of chunks has initially formed a scale, and the overall growth trend indicates that chunk research in China is in the development stage; from 2011 to now, the number of the research of chunks has increased rapidly, and peaked in 2013. Compared with the previous studies, the researches on chunks in this period have changed a lot in research contents, research methods and research perspectives, showing a dynamic picture of multi latitude and multi perspective of the researches on chunks.
Through comprehensively analyzing the research literature on chunks at home, it can be seen that the research contents of chunks at home are quite extensive, which mainly includes the following six categories:
a) A study of chunks based on the cognitive level. With the further study of chunks, researchers gradually turn their attention from the output of chunks to learners’ psychological cognition and processing of chunks. For a while, this kind of research has become a hot topic. Different scholars in China have studied the psychological cognition and processing process of chunks from different aspects: Chen Wanhui (2008) has discussed the psychological reality of chunk from a theoretical point of view. He believes that learners can store and use chunks as a whole; Xu Fang (2010) in his case study, based on the theory of sound thinking, used the retrospective interview method to study the characteristics of thinking of English Majors in writing. Guo Xianping (2011) analyzed the reasons why college students pay attention to chunks in reading and extract chunks in translation, and found that there is a significant correlation between learners’ English level and chunk use ability.
b) Research on the positive correlation between chunks and language levels. An empirical study conducted by Ding Yanren and Qi Yan (2005) on chunks to improve learners’ communicative fluency and idiomatic word selection. The results show that: compared with grammar, there is a strong correlation between students’ ability to use chunks and their oral and writing scores. Yuan Ping and Guo Fenrong (2010) analyzed the spoken language data of 12 sophomores majoring in English, and found that there was a strong correlation between the number of chunks and the accuracy of the language.
c) A survey of the characteristics of chunk use by second language learners. The purpose of this kind of research focuses on exploring whether the use of chunks can improve L2 learners’ writing, speaking, and interpreting abilities. Mao Chengyi (2008) investigated language learners’ use of chunks in the test environment. The results clear indicated that: the number of chunks used by learners is small and single; learners with low test scores use chunks more frequently than those with high test scores; the frequency of chunk use will affect the fluency of conversation to a certain extent. Wang Wenyu and Huang Yan (2013) pointed out that the students who used more chunks got higher scores in interpreting by examining the relationship between the use of chunk and the quality of interpreting output.
d) Corpus based chunk research. With the rapid development of corpus linguistics, scholars adopt a new theoretical perspective and research ideas to research chunks. Wang lifei and Qian Juan (2009) did the research on chunks used by English learners in their speeches through corpus. Shi Zhiliang (2012) also discussed the teaching mode of College English from the perspective of corpus, and finally came to the conclusion that the teaching mode of College English based on corpus contributes to cultivating students’ autonomous learning ability and critical thinking, effectively improve students’ language ability, and has strong feasibility and popularization. The above scholars apply corpus to foreign language teaching and explore a new teaching mode, which brings some enlightenment to the future foreign language teaching.
e) A study of chunk review. Researchers have reviewed chunk studies from different perspectives. For example, Wang Xiaomei and Yang Yajun (2012) summarized the latest achievements in the study of prefabricated chunk theory at home and abroad, and then analyzed the essential characteristics of prefabricated chunk theory from the perspectives of linguistics, psycholinguistics and corpus. Wang Lifei and Zhang Dafeng (2006) reviewed the studies of chunks abroad. Duan Shiping (2006) made a comment on the study of L2 chunk teaching in China.
f) Research on English vocabulary teaching based on Chunk Theory
Chunk is a very important research object in language teaching research. In China, the earliest application of Chunk Theory to teaching practice started from Yang Yuchen (1995) who analyzed the reasons why college students made mistakes in choosing words in language output, and concluded that the focus of vocabulary teaching should be shifted from “word unit” to “phrase unit” or “sentence unit”. Pu Jianzhong (2003) found that in English vocabulary teaching and learning, teachers haven’t paid enough attention to the common chunks which can reflect the depth of vocabulary knowledge, resulting in learners’ wrong use of chunks. Therefore, he reckoned that the focus of English vocabulary teaching must be on lexical chunk teaching. Xiao Fushou (2000) put forward a new concept, namely word type, which can be a structure of lexical collocation, phrase or chunk of language. Furthermore, he points out that the pattern approach can help students enlarge their vocabulary, learn more authentic expressions, and improve the accuracy of vocabulary use. Luo Yanyan (2009), with the help of the latest research results of vocabulary acquisition, expounds the advantages of chunk in vocabulary teaching, and proposes a new vocabulary teaching model centered on chunk teaching. Luo Mingyan (2009) pointed out that the College English vocabulary teaching method based on Chunk Theory can effectively solve the problems such as the low English vocabulary of college students and the lack of comprehensive language application ability. Du Jing (2012) studied how to guide students to recognize, memorize and use chunk from Chunk Theory, so as to expand the chunk quantity of junior middle school students and mobilize their autonomy, improve their comprehensive ability of using language. Wang Qin (2013) conducted a lexical chunk teaching experiment on 96 junior middle school students. The results show that lexical chunk teaching can help students understand and memorize vocabulary and improve the accuracy of junior middle school students’ vocabulary use. Zhang Jia (2014) emphasized that chunk theory provides new ideas for College English vocabulary teaching. Using chunks in vocabulary teaching can reduce the difficulty of students’ memory and help them to remember words.
After reviewing and analyzing the research on English vocabulary teaching based on Chunk Theory in China, the author finds that although there are many domestic scholars who have studied English vocabulary teaching based on Chunk Theory, most of these researches are concentrated on college students or middle school students, but few in junior middle school students. It can be seen that there are still some deficiencies in English Vocabulary Teaching in junior middle schools based on Chunk Theory, which needs to be further explored.
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