1.4.2 Target Words Given Directly Instead of Being Introduced Gradually
Students’ interest and initiatives are viewed as two crucial elements for their English studies. Accordingly, target words are expected to be explained and introduced to them step by step in attempt to help the students think as well as ponder over words actively and meditatively. If teachers speak out the whole story, materials would turn to be crammed into students' minds. The learners would become the passive recipient of knowledge. This will bring about a rather negative effect on arousing their interests and do harm to their vocabulary learning.
1.4.3 Unfamiliarity with English Etymology
The theory of word-formation of English language has proved us the important and indispensable role of English etymology played on vocabulary teaching and learning. Since large amounts of English words are formed by a wealth of meaningful roots and affixes, teaching vocabulary on the basis of detailed accounts of interesting word origins in the form of funny stories would shed some light on the meaningful learning of English vocabulary. This idea put forward will surely be of particular interest to students, promote their sensibility for languages and get better understanding of lexical meanings of words as well as greatly enlarge the quantity of their vocabulary. With the
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help of teachers’ vivid analysis and explanation of target words’ roots and affixes, the process of vocabulary learning and memorization could develop into a meaningful and leisurely one. However, the employment of etymological approach in college English teaching has been paid little attention for a long period of time. The thought may have been crossing some teachers’ minds that etymology is rather profound for students to understand and be willing to learn. In fact, on the contrary, it has been shown that students not only are willing to get familiar with the origin and history of target words but enjoy very much taking part in the training activity about etymology study in the class. Besides, not abundant source books in vocabulary teaching lead to teachers’ unwillingness to collect and analyze target words on their own.
1.5 Lack of Resource Materials to Make Teaching of Vocabulary Interesting
Although some researches done and books written on vocabulary teaching, English teachers have fewer materials available at hand talking about detailed strategies they could directly at the researches in China devote themselves to vocabulary size, students’ motivation, psychological effects on words, word meaning and affixes and methodology appropriate in different learning stages. It has been shown that scholars nowadays pay more attention
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