ANALYSIS OF VOCABULARY PROCESSING IN ENGLISH TEACHING BASED ON COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica 2020, Vol. XXIX, N°2, 758-764

DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.307 758

A

NALYSIS OF

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OCABULARY

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ROCESSING IN

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NGLISH

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EACHING

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ASED ON

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OGNITIVE

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SYCHOLOGY

Yongmei Li

Abstract

The learning of English vocabulary is a cognitive behavior. Thus, cognitive psychology plays an important role in English vocabulary processing. Inspired by theories on memory, processing hierarchy and information processing, this paper analyzes the vocabulary processing in English teaching based on cognitive psychology, and divides English vocabulary processing into three processes: input, central processing and output. Then, a contrastive experiment was designed and implemented in a college of Heilongjiang Province, China. The students in the experimental group were taught English vocabulary based on cognitive psychology, while those in the control group were taught in the traditional mode. The vocabulary acquisition of all students was measured through pre-test, post-test and questionnaire survey. Through data analysis, it is concluded that the college students are poor in vocabulary acquisition, lacking effective learning or acquisition methods for vocabulary processing; more than 81% of the students want to learn English vocabulary well; the two groups had no obvious difference in pre-test scores, while the experimental group achieved much higher post-test scores than the control group. The research results greatly promote the research of English vocabulary acquisition in colleges and universities in China.

Key words: English Vocabulary, Vocabulary Processing, Cognitive Psychology, Contrastive Experiment.

Received: 12-01-19 | Accepted: 05-07-19

INTRODUCTION

Vocabulary is the basis of language and is one of the three major elements of language composition (pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar). Vocabulary is equivalent to the basic building materials of high-rise buildings. The more the raw materials are, the higher and the more stable the high-rise buildings will be. Therefore, vocabulary and vocabulary proficiency determine the second language (L2) proficiency of L2 learners (Lervåg, & Aukrust, 2010). English classroom teaching in colleges and universities in China mainly focuses on grammar teaching. Most English classroom teachers and students believe that vocabulary teaching should

School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China.

E-Mail: [email protected]

be acquired after class or in specific language environments such as English reading comprehension (Okhdar & Ghaffari, 2018). In recent years, as foreign language teaching in China references foreign teaching practice that linguistic language psychology and cognitive psychology are integrated into foreign language teaching, the importance of vocabulary teaching is gradually recognized, and the subjects such as vocabulary processing and vocabulary acquisition are gradually analyzed and studied (Chang, Lin, & Lee, 2005).

From a new perspective, such as psychology and linguistics, English vocabulary teaching has drawn many new viewpoints and achievements: the research of the importance of learning strategies and repeated learning to vocabulary acquisition has been confirmed (Hsu, 2017); the cognitive model of mother tongue learning is used as a reference in English vocabulary acquisition (Askell-Williams, & Lawson, 2006);

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Some scholars have confirmed the role of metacognitive strategy in vocabulary acquisition through empirical experiments, and draw the conclusion that vocabulary level is positively correlated with metacognitive level (Poorman & Mastorovich, 2008); based on the storage relationship between short-term memory and long-term memory in the human brain, some scholars propose the method of repeated and frequent vocabulary education (Cao, Xu, & Goodman, 2018). Through the study of theory and practice, vocabulary acquisition in China has changed from rote learning to cognitive psychology, but there are few researches on the psychological mechanism of vocabulary processing and the mode of information processing. There are still few researches on English vocabulary teaching by combining theory with practice from the perspective of cognitive psychology.

To update the mechanical ways of vocabulary memory and the backward methods of vocabulary teaching, this study analyzes the process of vocabulary processing in English teaching from the perspective of cognitive psychology, including the aspects of deep processing and shallow processing, short-term

memory and long-term memory, and

information processing. At the same time, to demonstrate the effectiveness of vocabulary processing teaching mode based on cognitive psychology, this study selects 110 junior students from a certain college in Heilongjiang Province as the subjects to carry out contrastive teaching experiments, and draws corresponding experimental conclusions through questionnaire survey, pre-test and post-test and mathematical statistics. From the perspective of cognitive psycholinguistics, the study of L2 vocabulary acquisition and vocabulary processing makes it easy for researchers to extract a large number of

convincing data and deepen their understanding of the working mechanism of bilingual or multilingual interaction.

THEORETICAL BASIS

Overview of cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology is a subject that studies

people’s psychological activities and phenomena in the cognitive process. Cognitive psychology believes that people are exposed to information and stimulate the brain that processes the information through a series of sensory activities to transform the information into a classified and meaningful whole. The cognitive process is not a simple additive process of information, but a process of consciously encoding, storing and memorizing information through experience. At the same time, people can also search, extract and use the processed information in the new cognitive process. Cognitive psychology includes theory of memory, processing hierarchy theory and information processing theory. The core content of cognitive psychology is to reveal the internal psychological mechanism of information in the process of input-central processing-output (Endress & Katzir, 2016).

Theory of memory

Memory is a process of experience storage, classification and re-application formed by the accumulation of cognitive activities, mainly including three steps: selective identification, storage, and retrieval and extraction (Peters & O'Sullivan, 2002). Memory plays an important role in L2 vocabulary acquisition, and is mainly divided into sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory. Figure 1 is the psychological cognitive process of theory of memory.

Figure 1

.

Psychological process of memory

Sensory memory Short-term memory Long-term memory

Forgotten

Partial

Partial

Input information

Attentation

ANALYSIS OF VOCABULARY PROCESSING IN ENGLISH TEACHING BASED ON COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ₇₆₀

Processing hierarchy theory

The processing hierarchy theory holds that the effect of memory is not only related to the number of repeated review, but also to the depth of cognitive processing activities. Vocabulary processing in the processing hierarchy theory can be divided into: 1. shallow processing refers to vocabulary processing with word and phrase as a unit, including the method of combination, synonyms, word building, and chunking; 2. deep processing refers to vocabulary processing with context and sentence as a unit, including syntax creation, situational method, topic method and text reading (Bouchard, Heckman, Seo et al., 2010; Huettinger & Huber, 2005).

Processing hierarchy theory holds that the effect of vocabulary processing needs both shallow processing and deep processing. After

memorizing the basic contents of word spelling and word meaning, we should know how to correctly apply words, match words, and use words in different language environments.

Information processing theory

Overview

The representative of information processing

theory is Gagne, a famous American

psychologist, holding that the main learning elements of information processing model include learner, stimulus, memory, and reaction (Gattiker & Goodhue, 2004). When a learner undergoes a change in the content of memory and a change in the reaction level under specific situational stimulus, it is deemed that the learner has completed the information processing process. Information processing can be divided into eight stages, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Information processing process

Stage name Description

Motivation stage The motivation phase is the preparatory phase of the whole process, and the learner starts

information processing driven by motivation.

Comprehension stage

In the comprehension phase, learners pay attention to the stimulating activities related to learning and differentiate from the stimuli.

Acquisition stage The acquisition phase is the persistent state of memory when the short-term memory transforms

and grows.

Hold phase

After the information obtained by the learner passes through the encoding process, it enters the long-term memory storage stage in the form of representation or concept by means of retelling and

strengthening.

Recall stage The recall phase is an information retrieval process, this kind of information extraction by learners

is an indispensable part of the learning process.

Profile phase In this phase, the useful knowledge and skills learned will be used in a new real environment.

Operational stage This stage is to let students reflect the learning effect in the application.

Feedback phase The learner knows whether he has reached the learning expectation through the completion of the

homework in the stage

Figure 2

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Information processing model for vocabulary learning

Long-term memory

Sensory Feeling registration Short-term memory

Environmental stimulus Reaction

generator

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Information processing model of information processing theory

English vocabulary processing process is a typical information processing process, which satisfies the model of information processing theory. The whole process is guided by the

learner’s expectation and execution control. The expectation is the learner’s requirement for vocabulary acquisition while the execution control is the embodiment of the learner’s self-regulation ability, learning strategy and metacognitive method (Pezzulo & Cisek, 2016). Figure 2 shows an information processing model

for vocabulary learning.

Information comes from the external environment to the learner’s nervous system, returns to the environment and links to the internal process through feedback. This process exerts a good enlightening effect on the teaching of English vocabulary.

Based on this information processing model as a basic framework and combining with theory of memory and processing hierarchy theory, this study designs a contrastive experiment on vocabulary processing in English teaching (Guo & Liu, 2014).

Table 2.

English vocabulary acquisition questionnaire

Item Question Answer

1 I think my vocabulary a. large enough, b. Relatively large, c. general d.no 2 In English learning, when I encounter some words, I

don’t know what they mean. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no

3 I think vocabulary learning is in the English course. a. very important, b. important, c. general d. not important

4 I think the textbooks for me are a. very suitable b. relatively appropriate c. not very suitable d. not suitable

5 The reason I am learning vocabulary is a. to pass the exam b. a learning task c. to acquire a language d. others

6 In the process of my vocabulary learning, the most important issue is

a. no good teaching method b. no good vocabulary book c. no good remember methods d. others 7 I mainly rote learning vocabulary a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 8 I remember new words just by repeating the

pronunciation and writing on paper. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 9 I analyze the prefix, root and suffix of the word to help

memorize a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 10 I will classify words into memories a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 11 When I learn new words, I will contact the vocabulary

or other knowledge I have learned. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 12 I recorded the common words I learned and their

Chinese meanings on the notes. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 13 If I encounter a word I don’t know, I will look up the

dictionary. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 14 I will find a way to put all the meanings of polysemous

words together. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 15 I judge the meaning of new words according to the

context. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no

16

When learning new words, I will figure out the places to pay attention to when matching and other specific

applications.

a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no

17 I regularly review the vocabulary I have learned before. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 18 I read a lot to be able to use the words I have learned. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 19 I often use extracurricular reading, writing and talking

to learn vocabulary. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 20 I often use extracurricular reading, writing and talking

to learn vocabulary. a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no

21

When I use English to communicate with my classmates or foreign teachers, I try to use the vocabulary I have

learned.

a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no

22 I do various vocabulary exercises to consolidate my

vocabulary a. always, b. sometimes, c. occasionally d.no 23 My vocabulary acquisition a. very effective b. effective c. not very effective d.

not effective 24 I really want to master some effective vocabulary

ANALYSIS OF VOCABULARY PROCESSING IN ENGLISH TEACHING BASED ON COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ₇₆₂

EMPIRICAL EXPERIMENT OF VOCABULARY PROCESSING IN ENGLISH TEACHING

Experimental design

Experimental subject

A contrastive experiment is conducted with 110 junior students from a college in Heilongjiang Province as subjects. The ratio of male to female is 1: 1. The experimental subjects are divided into two classes: experimental class and control class, each with 50 students.

Experimental tools

The vocabulary acquisition level and psychological expectation of the subjects are obtained through the English vocabulary acquisition questionnaire (Table 2), and the

subjects’ level of vocabulary is tested by the college English vocabulary application ability test. Besides, the psychological level of vocabulary acquisition and pre-test and post-test scores are analyzed by SPSS 20.0.

Experimental process

First, the subjects will conduct the pre-test of vocabulary acquisition level and the questionnaire test of vocabulary psychological expectation. Then the students in the experimental class are taught the vocabulary of cognitive psychology for half a semester, and the students in the control class are taught the traditional vocabulary for half a semester. Finally, the post-test and questionnaire survey results are used to investigate the changes of the

subjects’ vocabulary acquisition, the effects of cognitive psychology teaching method on vocabulary processing, and the students’

attitudes towards cognitive psychology classroom.

Teaching classroom of cognitive psychology

Vocabulary teaching based on cognitive psychology emphasizes the vocabulary processing model and processing process of theory of memory, processing hierarchy theory and information processing theory. Classroom teaching includes pre-class preparation (student + teacher)-classroom report (student)-classroom explanation (teacher)-classroom interaction (student + student)-homework arrangement (student). Teachers in the classroom must be familiar with the cognitive psychology-related theoretical knowledge in the classroom to guide

students to learn vocabulary. Students are in the central position in the classroom, so they need to actively use the cognitive psychological processing theory to learn vocabulary.

Experimental analysis

Psychological level of vocabulary acquisition

The psychological level of vocabulary acquisition is obtained by using the questionnaire in Table 2. 110 questionnaires are distributed and 100 valid questionnaires are collected. The statistical results of 24 questionnaires on the learners’ vocabulary acquisition are shown in Table 3.

Table 3.

Vocabulary acquisition psychological

level survey results

Item/Answer a b c d

1 2 5 35 58

2 47 31 16 6

3 61 24 14 1

4 45 35 18 2

5 57 24 13 6

6 43 24 31 2

7 36 49 10 5

8 66 25 4 5

9 15 37 35 13

10 6 38 26 30

11 13 25 54 7

12 8 28 57 7

13 16 28 39 17

14 11 12 34 43

15 20 37 32 11

16 9 16 21 54

17 1 7 14 78

18 2 13 43 42

19 13 24 60 3

20 4 7 23 66

21 3 5 24 68

22 4 12 21 63

23 4 21 43 32

24 81 11 6 2

It can be seen from the statistical data that most students are not satisfied with their vocabulary and there are still many deficiencies in vocabulary acquisition, and 85% of the surveyed students think that vocabulary acquisition is important for English learning. In the processing process, students are not optimistic about the application of cognitive psychological mechanisms such as learning motivation, learning strategy and metacognitive strategy. At present, more than 67% of students’

vocabulary acquisition methods are rote memorization. More than 81% of students hope to improve their English vocabulary acquisition

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by mastering effective vocabulary acquisition methods.

Pre-test and post-test results

Table 4.

Pretest and post test scores of test

class

Test class

Number Min Max Mean Std. Deviation

Pretest 55 54 84 67 6.08 post test 55 64 92 74 4.78

It can be seen from the data in the table that there is no significant difference in vocabulary scores between the experimental class and the control class, and the mean value is close to the standard variance. However, the vocabulary scores of the experimental class are significantly higher than those of the control class, and the standard deviation of the experimental class is smaller than that of the control class, indicating that the stability of scores of the experimental class is higher than that of the control class.

Table 5.

Pretest and post test scores of control

class

Control class

Number Min Max Mean Std. Deviation

Pretest 55 56 84 66 6.22 post test 55 57 85 68 5.87

Interview on vocabulary processing process

After the teaching experiment, 10 students of the experimental class are randomly selected as the interview objects, and their feelings of participating in the classroom of cognitive psychology are summarized. The goal of vocabulary memory is clearer after participating in the classroom and students are more skillful in the application of short-term memory and long-term memory to information input and output. After participating in the classroom, students gain new cognition in the multi-level processing theory, and the combined use of vocabulary, phrase and context makes the vocabulary acquisition more effective. The vocabulary processing process of input-central processing-output of information processing theory makes the vocabulary acquisition smoother.

CONCLUSIONS

Vocabulary is the basic structure of language, and vocabulary teaching is always ignored but plays a decisive role in L2 acquisition. The importance of vocabulary acquisition has been paid much attention in recent years, and many studies have been conducted in many aspects such as vocabulary teaching and vocabulary acquisition. Cognitive psychology has been applied in L2 acquisition. This study applies cognitive psychology to the English vocabulary

processing process, and draws the

corresponding research conclusions through the combination of theory and practice:

(1) Theory of memory, processing hierarchy theory and information processing theory are the main cognitive psychological activities in English vocabulary processing.

(2) Vocabulary teaching based on cognitive psychology plays an active role in improving

learners’ vocabulary acquisition and learning strategies.

(3) Most of the students welcome the application of cognitive psychology in English vocabulary acquisition.

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