摘要
词汇是语言体系中不可缺少的组成部分，英语学习者也常常觉得词汇是语言知识中最难掌握的部分。Gorman早在1979年就指出，随着学生英语水平的不断提高，由句法因素引起的语言学习问题越来越小，掌握词汇成了有一定的英语基础的英语学习者的主要问题。在词汇学习过程中，由于语音和语法规则相对而言是比较稳定的，学生可以在有限的时间里掌握它们。而词义却要复杂得多，因此词义的掌握成了词汇教学中的难点。这与我们在湖南城市学院英语专业学生中进行的调查结果相一致。“英语单词最难掌握的是它的发音、语法规则还是词义?” 74.07％的同学认为词义是最难掌握的部分。因此探求一种行之有效的词汇意义的教学方法显得十分必要，这就是本篇论文的目的。
词汇教学先后经历过翻译法、直接法、阅读法、听说法及交际法等多种方法。国内外的很多学者和教师对词汇教学进行了广泛的探讨，并写出了很多的教学论文，James Coady认为词汇的习得要通过大量的阅读，Jan Husti jn认为，词汇教学的重点应该是讲授词汇习得的策略。他们的理论为当今的词汇教学提供了理论指导，但不能不说二者之中也存在某些局限。过分强调通过阅读习得词汇而不加以适当的指导，学生的词汇习得缺乏准确性，显得模棱两可。而过分强调词汇习得策略又会使学生失去大量的接触语言环境的机会，使词汇习得策略的学习显得孤立和呆板，词汇的自然习得就无法实现。
本文把已有的研究成果与当今的词汇教学的现实相结合，试图找出一种既能让学生最大限度地拥有语言环境，又能让学生掌握必要的词汇习得策略，同时更能帮助学生真正掌握词汇意义的教学方法。通过调查发现，学生掌握词汇的最大困难在于词义的掌握。在很大程度上，这种困难是由词义自身的特点所决定的。
词义特点表现在它的多样性、多维性、可变性及民族性。词汇意义种类繁多，利奇(Geoffrey Leech)在他的Semantics，一书中指出“词义”可以分为七种主要类型。即：概念意义、内涵意义、社会意义、情感意义、反映意义、搭配意义和主题意义。其中内涵意义、社
会意义、情感意义、反映意义和搭配意义可总称为联想意义。词汇意
义的多样性决定了词汇意义学习的复杂性。词汇意义的多维性在于词
汇的各种意义不属于同一个层面。其中概念意义是基本意义，是核心。
联想意义不是词语本身所固有的，而是附在概念意义之上的各种引伸
义。概念意义，联想意义和主题意义分属于不同的层面或侧面。因此，
在词义教学中，只有让学生掌握词汇的不同层面的意义，学生才能正
确理解并运用词汇。一个单词的意义不是一成不变的，它随着社会的
变化和发展，词义也发生变化。主要表现在词义的改变和新义的产生。
一词多义是词义变化的结果。这些都是词义的可变性的体现。
词义的复杂性决定了词汇教学中词义的重要地位。因此，在认知
语言学、词汇学、语义学等有关理论的指导下，本文提出了着眼于概
念意义，借助词义关系，关注文化意义，强调语境意义，突出词义的
教学方法。具体的教学模式为:阅读+指导+实践。它代表的是一个师
生互动的过程。学生的阅读和实践是整个过程的主体部分，是词义
习得的前提条件;老师的指导是学生词义习得的外在保证，加快学生
词义习得的内化过程，并帮助和巩固学生所习得的词义。
调查结果表明，此方法的实施有其积极的作用，它能帮助学生改
进学习方法，促使学生从被动记忆词汇向主动学习词汇转变;它有助
于提高学生语言实际能力，帮助他们正确地运用语言。
当然，强调词义的词汇教学方法并不排斥语音及语法规则的教
学。另外，在教学过程中，不能对各种意义平均分配力量，应该根据
实际情况有所侧重。
Vocabulary is one of the indispensable components of language system. It is considered as the most difficult component of language knowledge for a learner to grasp. Gorman (1979) points out that there is evidence showing that as students become more proficient in a second language, problems caused specifically by syntactical variation become less significant( Quigley, 1985:499). Students can learn a word pronunciation and its grammatical rules in a restricted period of time. It is because either of them is relatively stable, but it is not the same case with word meaning, which has become a difficult point for students to acquire. This is confirmed by our poll of the English majors in Hunan City College. With the question " What is the most difficult to learn, pronunciation, grammatical rules or word meaning ?" , 74.07% of the students answered that word meaning is the most difficult part for them
to acquire. Therefore, it is crucial to find an effective way to teach English word meaning, which is the purpose of the present thesis.
Second language vocabulary instruction has experienced the following stages: Grammar Translation Method, Reform Movement, Direct Method, Reading Method, Audio-lingual Method, Communicative Language Teaching and Natural Approach. Many scholars and teachers both at home and abroad have already made an extensive probe into vocabulary teaching. James Coady(1997) believes that vocabulary acquisition results from extensive reading. Jan Hulstijn thinks that the key of vocabulary teaching should be the instructions of vocabulary acquisition strategies. Their theories provide a theoretical guide to the present vocabulary teaching. But they have their own disadvantages.
Over-emphasizing the function of vocabulary acquisition through extensive reading without necessary instructions would result in students acquiring new word without sufficient understanding of its meaning. That is, the students cannot properly grasp word meaning. On the contrary,
over-emphasizing the instructions of vocabulary acquisition strategies will deprive the students of their opportunities to learn language in context, and make it impossible to acquire a word in a natural way,
Based on the research results and the present vocabulary teaching methods, this thesis tries to establish a vocabulary teaching method which can not only help students get vocabulary acquisition strategies through extensive reading, but also help them learn vocabulary, especially word meaning. Our investigation result shows that the most difficult thing for the students in vocabulary acquisition is the mastery of word meaning. It is determined by the complexity of word meaning.
Word meaning is complicated by its diversity, multidimensionality, variability and nationality. In Semantics the Study of Meaning, Geoffrey Leech divides word meaning into seven kinds: conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, social meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, collocative meaning and thematic meaning. The diversity of word meaning makes it more difficult for the students to acquire. Of course, different kinds of word meaning don't parallel with each other. They belong to different levels or exist in the form of multidimensionality. Among them, conceptual meaning is the basic meaning, and associative meaning is not the intrinsic meaning of a word itself. It is extended meaning, which is based on the conceptual meaning. The characteristic multidimensionality of word meaning requires that students should gain the meanings from different aspect. The meaning of a word is not immutable and frozen. It changes with the development of the society. The change of word meaning and the production of a new meaning are the main phenomena of the variability of word meaning. Polysemy is the result of the change of word meaning.
The complexity of word meaning determines its importance in vocabulary teaching. With the help of cognitive linguistics, lexicology and semantics, the thesis tries to make a tentative study of teaching English word meaning, and
引文
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