On the Application of Spider—web Theory in Expanding College Students’ Vocabulary

【Abstract】Based on his own research on vocabulary teaching in college， the author has put forward such a “Spider-web Theory” creatively to be applied in the vocabulary teaching practice. It makes use of numerous links between word and other linguistic units， to connect one word with countless others. And these links are vividly compared to spider-web lines. And it is concluded that Spider-web Theory can be extremely efficient in the vocabulary teaching practice in Wuchang Institute of Technology.

【Key Words】Spider-web Theory； vocabulary teaching in college； amount of vocabulary； spider-web line

【作者簡介】趙團(tuán)結(jié)（1976-），男，漢族，河南太康人，文學(xué)碩士，武昌工學(xué)院國際教育學(xué)院副院長，副教授，研究方向：大英教學(xué)，翻譯理論與實(shí)踐；常何，武昌工學(xué)院國際教育學(xué)院，副院長，職稱副教授；王艷榮，武昌工學(xué)院國際教育學(xué)院，副教授。

1. Introduction of Spider-web Theory

This theory developed by American economist H. Schultz， Italian economist U. Rick and Netherlandish J.T Inberge， was first proposed in 1930’s and was named by British economist N. Kaldor in 1934. And this theory has been widely introduced into various relevant fields， including psychology， physics and economics， with various specific applications.

The students’ memory of English words can be enhanced through the imitation of a spider web， which specifically refers to the various relationships between one word and the others， as well as between one word and a proverb， a story， and even a vivid language environment， etc. This is the definition of Spider-web Theory applying in the vocabulary teaching of college students.

2. Spider-web Theory in Teaching Vocabulary in Colleges of China

The students’ memory of English words can be enhanced through the imitation of a spider web， which specifically refers to the various relationships between one word and the others， as well as between one word and a proverb， a story， and even a vivid language environment， etc. This is the definition of Spider-web Theory applying in the vocabulary teaching of college students. Specifically， various spider lines in such a methodology include： semantic lines， phonetic lines， spelling lines， word-formation lines， collocation lines， culture lines， sentence lines， language environment lines， grammar lines， and logic lines. Such numerous lines can form a large “spider web” with one word as the center.

2.1 Semantic Lines

Semantic lines indicate that the meaning of words is taken advantage of in the process of teaching vocabulary to college students in China. Actually， in the process of learning a foreign language， the first and foremost task for students is to understand the meaning of that target language. It goes without saying that the links of meaning between one word and the others can be used in remembering them.Specifically， there exist four sub-types of semantic lines between the English words， namely synonyms， antonyms， polysemes and hyponyms， all of which can serve as a spider-web line in the process of strengthening the students’ memory of English words.

2.2 Phonetic Lines

Phonetics refers to “the study of sounds”（Hu： P31）. Nevertheless， phonetic relationship can also be adopted in teaching students how to remember words. Words with the same vowel can be grouped together， such as bright——sight——fright——might——thigh——sigh. Also， words with the same pronunciation rule can also be put in one group， such as climb——tomb——comb——womb. What is more striking is homonymy， which is “two words having the same sound”（Hu： P403） but different spelling and meaning， such as night and knight.

2.3 Spelling Lines

The spelling rules can be applied in teaching vocabulary to the students. Words with the same ending can be linked in the web， such as propose——compose——dispose——impose——suppose. Also， words with the same spelling rules can be another relationship between those words， including gulf， roof， chief， serf， belief， proof， and handkerchief， in that they are all added with an “s” when in plural form.

2.4 Word-formation Lines

Generally speaking， the formation of words might involve derivative and compound words， in addition to other means involving the origin of words. Since there exist some obvious rules in word formation， word formation can constitute the fourth line in the huge spider web. Among derivatives， there are some words with the same prefix， such as decrease， depreciate， degrade， and devalue， which all begin with “de-”.

2.5 Collocation Lines

The term collocation refers to “a habitual combination of words which sound natural”（Longman： P192）. “Strong coffee” is a typical collocation while “powerful coffee” is not. Practically， such collocations have become set phrases and some even become a member of vocabulary. Thus， the fifth spider-web line has come into being by making use of their collocation rules.

2.6 Culture Lines

If some words are connected with some foreign cultural knowledge， they will definitely stay in the students’ mind for a much longer time. Some words’ origin itself is a story， which is relevant to culture and can enhance the students’ memory. For example， the word “news” comes from the first letters of four directions： north， east， west and south； the famous cigarette Marlboro comes from the first letters of one sentence： Men always remember love because of romance only.

2.7 Sentence Lines

A more efficient way of remembering English words is to put them into a sentence. In order to achieve a more effective outcome， special sentences are preferred during the process of remembering words， including idioms， proverbs and apothegms. For example， the word “Rome” can be connected to three proverbs， namely “Rome was not built in one day.”， “All roads lead to Rome.” and “When in Rome， do as Romans do.”

2.8 Language Environment Lines

When it comes to the language environment， it is no longer a new subject in memorizing English words. However， the author has put forward some specific techniques in helping the students building up the spider-web of vocabulary. Language environment might include relevant place， time， people and surrounding and so on.

2.9 Grammar Lines

Compared with Chinese， English enjoys a much more complicated grammar system. In spite of some exceptions， there exist a lot of grammatical rules in that language. Therefore， some words share one rule or another， for which they can be put in one group.

2.10 Logic Lines

Since it is apparent to everybody， logical relationship may also constitute a line to join one word with others. More specifically， there exist different types of logical relationship between one word and another， including reason and cause， condition and result， turning， means and effect etc.

3. Some Tips about Spider-web Theory in Vocabulary Teaching

In order to achieve an ideal effect in teaching English words through such an innovative methodology， the following tips should also be emphasized：

3.1 Every line， as well as its connection with other lines， is boundless.

3.2 Repetition is an effective way to remember words， for which there always exists repetition in building up the students’ spider webs.

3.3 Disorder can be neglected due to the fact that vocabulary deals with numerous words.

3.4 One or two above lines might be broken. However， the remaining lines can bind the word in your mind firmly..

4. Conclusion

In this Spider-web Theory， the links between one word and other issues can bind them together， which can extraordinarily lengthen the duration of the words in the students’ minds. What’s more， Spider-web Theory is based on various approaches of teaching vocabulary home and abroad. It has absorbed significant advantages from those methods and some new ideas have been formulated， which altogether forms a brand-new system. Consequently， it is more scientific and complete in the vocabulary teaching study.

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