记忆阶段性理论对外语词汇教学的启示

心理学对记忆的研究揭示记忆是一种复杂的大脑处理信息的现象,它分为三个阶段:感觉储存阶段、短时记忆阶段和长时记忆阶段.词汇教学应根据记忆的阶段性特征安排符合记忆规律的教学内容和方法.首先词汇教学的内容要重点突出,循序渐进,不能使短时记忆超负荷.词汇教学的方法要符合信息从短时记忆进入长时记忆的规律,调动学习者的各种感官,加深对词汇的印象;利用各种手段、媒介使词汇反复进入短时记忆,最终进入长时记忆.词汇教学的最终目的是培养学生独立自觉学习新词汇并能够自如运用的能力.

Vocabulary Instruction by Virtue of the Three Stages of Memory

The psychological study on memory reveals that memory is a complicated cerebral phenomenon of processing information,which can be generally divided into three stages: sensory storage,short-term memory and long-term memory.Based on such study,the content and method of vocabulary instruction should be in accordance with the working mechanism of human memory.Language teachers should be aware of the priority in vocabulary instruction and had better not overburden students' memory.The aim of vocabulary teaching is to facilitate the transference of information from short-term memory to long-term memory by stimulating the students' various senses,activating as much old information as possible when imparting something new,recycling learned words and finally cementing them in long-term memory.The most important aspect of vocabulary teaching is to foster learner's independence so that learners will be able to deal with new lexes and turn them into productive ones.