1、英语毕业论文 词汇;单词;学习方法;希腊神话;载体Introduction“In the last years,the field of second language acquisitio n has seen t he reemergence of interest in o ne of language st udy,vocabulary,andt he appearance of a newly reco gnized aspectlearnerst rategieshas attracted a noticeable lack of attentio n”（Meare）.The re
2、search,which hasbeen do ne o n vocabulary learning st rategies,hastended to deal wit h individual o r small number s ofst rategies,wit h very limited loo king at t he gro upas a whole.However,wit h my perso nal experience,so mewo rds do give me intense imp ressio ns and occupiedmy memo ry permanentl
3、y even if I have seen t hemo nce.Here I want to indicate t hat mo st of t hesewo rds are read f ro m sto ries,t ypically f ro m GreekMyt holo gy,which is co nsidered to be t he o rigin ofEnglish literat ure.I wo uld like to call t he lo ng o rsho rt myt hs f ro m which I mastered wo rds firmly“carri
4、ers”.This article will fir st overview so me generalco nclusio ns abo ut vocabulary learning st rategies,which can be made p rio r to st rategy research.Then,carrier s in fo reign language vocabularylearning will be p ropo sed and t he mnemo nic met ho ds enlightened by wo rds f ro m Greek Myt holo
5、gydiscussed in mo re detail.Finally,t heo retical aspect s of carrier s used will be analyzed.Mnemonic methods enlightened by words fromGreek MythologyGreek mythology and its linguistic influenceEverybo dy knows t hat t he myt hs told by t heGreeks and Ro mans are as impo rtant as histo ry fo ro ur
6、under standing of what t ho se peoples,ancesto r s of o ur own civilizatio n,believed and t ho ughtand felt,and exp ressed in writing and in visualart.Fo r t heir myt holo gies were inext ricably interwoven,wit h t he whole fabric of t heir p ublic andp rivate lives.A nd t hen wit ho ut t hese myt h
7、s,itwo uld be hard fo r us to under stand t he art s and literat ure and ways of t hinking of t he west,and ofmany ot her part s of t he wo rld as well,during t hecent uries t hat have passed since t he classical wo rldcame to an end.Time after time t hese p ro duct s ofancient imaginatio n have bee
8、n used to inspire f reshcreative effo rt s,which amo unt to a substantial partof o ur whole cult ural inheritance.Such renewal sand adap tatio ns have of ten seemed far removed,f ro m t he o riginal t raditio n in character and spirit,yet t hey stem directly f ro m it,and are unimaginable wit ho ut
9、it.Each myt h means so met hing different to everybo dy who reads and st udies it.The sto ries arehard to fo rget,feelings abo ut t hem co me unp redictably.Their underlying qualities do not easilyyield to definitio n o r classificatio n and still less toweird searches.Above all,Myt holo gys influen
10、ceis evident in o ur language.It is hard to imaginereading o r writing wit ho ut drawing upo n myt horiented adjectives o r idio ms.Therefo re,wo rds f ro mGreek myt holo gy enlightened me wit h so me met ho ds to st rengt hen vocabulary learning,such as pict ure o r imagery and gro uping.Categories
11、 of mnemonic methodsPict u re/I m a ge ryThis is a way of remembering so me wo rds,which many st udent s find effective.Occasio nally t here is a wo rd t hat yo u havemet befo re which is o n t he tip of yo ur to ngue butyo u just cannot remember it.It may be a wo rd t hatseems difficult to remember
12、,o r o ne,which yo uhave seen many times but still cannot remember att he right time.Think of a wo rd in yo ur own language t hat so unds similar,o r if t he English wo rd islo ng in spelling,choo se a wo rd in yo ur own language t hat so unds t he same as t he fir st part of t heEnglish o ne.Yo u s
13、ho uld t hen fo rm a pict ure inwhich t he t wo wo rds interact.Imagine,fo r example:TantalizePerhap s yo u have known t he wo rd“tantalize”befo re.However,if it is a new wo rd to yo u,howdo yo u acquire it s meaning?See what will be different after reading t he following sto ry.In GreekMyt holo gy,
14、Zeus p unished Tantalus,a mo rtalking,who had co mmit ted t wo crimes.“Now hehangs,perennially co nsumed by t hir st and hunger, f ro m t he bo ugh of f ruitf ree which leans over amarshy lake.It s waves lap against his waist,andso metimes reach his chin,yet whenever he bendsdown to drink,t hey slip
15、 away,and not hing rmains but t he black mud at his feet.The t rees areladen wit h pear s,shinning apples,sweet figs,ripeolives and po megranates,which dangle against hissho ulder s,but whenever he reaches fo r t he luscio us f ruit,a gust of wind whirl s t hem o ut of hisreach.”This sto ry not o nl
16、y show s us t he o rigin ofTantalize,which means“to make（so meo ne）wantso met hing even mo re st ro ngly by keeping it justo ut of reach,”but al so gives us a carrier of vividpict ure.Imagery is o ne of t he carrier s t hat gives usa deep imp ressio n and has mo re effective reactio nst han learning
17、 t he wo rd wit h t heir dictio nary meaning.ArachnidThere was a co ntest in which a mo rtal dared toco me in co mpetitio n wit h Minerva,t he go ddess ofwisdo m.“That mo rtal was Arachne,a maidenwho had attained such skill in t he art s of weavingand embroidery t hat t he nymp hs t hemselves wo uld
18、leave t heir gro ves and fo untains to co me and gazeupo n her wo rk.One wo uld have said t hat Minervaherself had taught a p upil even of a go ddess.L etMinerva t ry her skill wit h mine,said she,ifbeaten,I will pay t he penalt y.“Arachne filled her canvas with similar subject s,wo nderf ully well
19、do ne,but st ro ngly markingher p resump tio n and impiet y.Minerva co uld notfo rbear to admire,yet felt indignant at t he insult.She st ruck t he web wit h her shut tle and rent it inpieces;she t hen to uched t he fo rehead of Arachneand made her fell guilt and shame.She sp rinkledher wit h t he j
20、uices of aco nite,and immediately herhair came off,and her no se and ear s likewise.Herfo rm shrank up,and her head grew smaller yet;her finger s cleaved to her side and serves fo r legs.All t he rest of her is bo dy,o ut of which she spinsher t hread,of ten hanging suspended by it,in t hesame at ti
21、t ude as when Minerva to uched her andt ransfo rmed her into a spider.”So,arachnid is t hesyno nym of spider.New wo rds can be learned by st udying t hemwit h pict ures of t heir meaning instead of definitio ns.Alternatively,learners can create t heir ownmental images of a wo rds meaning.Imagery has
22、been shown to be mo re effective t han mere repetitio n fo r reading passages（Steingart and Glock）and sentences（Saltz and Do nnenwert h Nolan）suggesting it co uld well be mo re effec2tive fo r vocabulary too.Here are ot her two sto2ries:Sisyphean labor“Sisyphus,son of Aeolus,married Atlassdaughter M
23、erope,o ne of t he Pleiades,and owneda fine herd of cat tle o n t he Ist hmus of Co rint h.Itmay have been because he had bet rayed Zeuss secret,o r because he had always lived by ro bberyand often murdered unsuspecting t raveler s;at anyrate,Sisyp hus was given an exemplary p unishment.The J udges
24、of t he Dead showed him a hugeblock of sto ne and o rdered him to roll it up t hebrow of a hill and topple it down t he fart her slope.He has never yet succeeded in doing so.A s soo n ashe has almo st reached t he summit,he is fo rcedback by t he weight of t he shameless sto ne,whichbo unces to t he
25、 very botto m o nce mo re;where hewearily ret rieves it and must begin all over again.”AchillesHeelAchilles now ro uted t he Trojans and p ur suedt hem towards t he cit y,but his co ur se,too,wasrun.Po seido n and Apollo,pledged to p unish certain insolent boast s t hat Achilles had ut tered overHec
26、to rs co rp se,too k co unsel to get her.Veiledwit h clo ud and standing by t he Scaean Gate,Apollo so ught o ut Paris in t he t hick of bat tle,t urnedhis bow and guided t he fatal shaf t.It st ruck t heo ne vulnerable part of Achillesbo dy,t he rightheel.（Fo r Thetis his mot her had dipped him whe
27、nan infant in t he River St yx,which made every partof him invulnerable excep t t he heel by which sheheld him.）,and he died in ago ny.So Sisyp hean labo r means hard and endlesswo rk and Achillesheel means a small but impo rtant weakness,usually fatal.In t his way,newwo rds can be associated wit h
28、a particular vivid story of t he underlying co ncep t.These are just examples.If yo u t ry to fo rm amental image of each wo rd interactingly,it mightbe so met hing very difficult.The essential point sare t hat it must be yo ur own image and t hat t heimage shows a relatio nship bet ween t he twowo
29、rds.Yo u may decide t hat yo u like making mental images and t hat it help s yo u learn vocabulary,but if yo u t ry to learn every new wo rd in t his way,yo u will soo n be disappointed.Obvio usly yo usho uld use t he met ho ds yo u find usef ul and enjo y,but t ry different t hing:variet y is impo
30、rtant.Grou pi n gGro uping is an impo rtant way toaid recall and people seem to o rganize wo rds intogro up nat urally wit ho ut any aid to recall,and people seem to o rganize wo rds into gro up s nat urallywit ho ut p ro mp ting.In f reerecall st udies,subject swere given list s of wo rds to st udy
31、 and t hen recallin any o rder.Typically,wo rds belo nging to eachmeaning catego ry are recalled to get her,fo r example,wo rds f ro m Greek myt holo gy catego rized intot hree gro up s:wo rds of go dsnames,wo rds of co nstellatio ns and wo rds of mo nster s.Words of godsnamesCeres:go ddess of grain
32、s and harvest s and itco mes into t he wo rd cereal:which means a plantgrown to p ro duce grain fo r foo d.Chao s:t he oldest go d in t he universe,whenhe was bo rn,t he wo rld was in dark and diso rder sochao s al so means a state of co mplete and t ho ro ughdiso rder and co nf usio n.Hercules:t he
33、 great hero,who finished unbelievable difficult tasks and herculean means needing o r using very great st rengt h o r determinatio n.Iris:go ddess of rainbow and iridescencemeans showing changing colo r s as light fall s o n it.Nemesis:go ddess of revenge so nemesismeans unavoidable p unishment co nsidered as ago d
