Abstract:

This thesis presents some commonly used methods in senior high school English vocabulary learning, namely English words’ sound, form, and meaning association memory strategies. It aims to highlight the practical application of word associative memory strategies during vocabulary learning process in order to help students understand, store and master vocabulary. The conclusion of this study is that vocabulary association memory strategies may to some extent help students learn English words.

Key words: vocabulary learning; association memory; memory strategies  

摘要：

本研究阐述了高中英语词汇学习的一些常用方法，即英语单词的音，形，义的联想记忆策略，旨在强调联想记忆策略在词汇学习过程中的实际应用，以期帮助学生理解、记忆和掌握英语词汇。本研究最终得出的结论是：词汇联想记忆策略会在某种程度上有助于学生学习英语词汇。

关键词：词汇学习；联想记忆；记忆策略
 
1.    Introduction
Senior high school students are required to learn and grasp 3,500 words or so upon graduation according to the Standard of English Curriculum formulated by the Ministry of Education. The increase of vocabulary has imposed a new challenge on Chinese senior high school students and the biggest problem that students have is how to understand, store and master vocabulary more easier. Therefore, it is quite necessary to explore what learning and memory strategies can help students learn English vocabulary effectively. The traditional way for many students to learn vocabulary is rote learning, namely learn word one by one in a isolated manner, and it is probably easy to forget. In the process of learning English vocabulary, the largest obstacle for Chinese students is vocabulary memory. Vocabulary is the foundation of English learning. Wilkins (1978) states that “Without grammar, very litter can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed." It shows the importance of English vocabulary. In recent years, many scholars studied vocabulary memory strategies, and they also put forward a lot of vocabulary memory strategies, among which word association memory strategy seems to be one of the more effective methods for promoting students’ vocabulary learning. The so-called word association memory strategy is to establish a relationship by associating old and new knowledge, in a kind of irrational way, which can not only increase learners' learning interesting but also help them memorize word more efficiently.