Discussion on Several Ways to Help Students Increase Their English Vocabulary in Teaching

Generally speaking, the sum of words constitutes the vocabulary of a language.Vocabulary is one of the three major elements of a language.The total vocabulary of English is estimated to be about one million.Therefore, how many English words to master plays a vital role in English teaching and learning.Only by mastering enough vocabulary can one be proficient in English listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating. The Importance of Vocabulary in English LearningEnglish is a language rich in vocabulary and concise in grammar.It has a long history and is flexible in use, which is very popular for people to learn and use.English is one of the most widely used languages in the world.Recent estimated data shows that the number of people communicating with English as the first language is more than 400 million, and almost one in 10 people speaks English.People in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries speak English.In addition, there are more than 20 countries in the world who use English as official or second language, amounting to about 800 million people.That is to say, almost one in 5 people in the world knows English to a certain extent.From the scope of use, more than 70% of the world's mail is written in English or the address is written in English, and 60% of the world's radio programs are in English.Most of the scientific and technological information in the world is published in English, and most international conferences take English as the first general language.English is one of the formal working languages of the United Nations.In short, in the international political, military, economic, technological, cultural, trade, transportation and other fields, English is usually used as a communication tool.Therefore, it can be seen that English is a key to the future.Vocabulary is the sum of all words and fixed phrases in a language(or specific range), and is the building material of language.It can be divided into basic vocabulary and general vocabulary.In the process of language development, the basic vocabulary is more stable, and the general vocabulary is sensitive to reflect the development of society and the changes of people's life, and it is almost in a state of constant change.With the development of society, new words come into being, old words disappear, and vocabulary is constantly enriched.There were about 140 thousand English words recorded during the Elizabeth period.So far, American English has broken through 500 thousand words."New Horizon College English" (Second Edition) stipulates that the basic requirement of vocabulary is to understand and grasp 4200 words, and the higher requirement is to grasp 5500 words and grasp the ability to recognize new words according to word formation.The English teaching syllabus stipulates that students should master 2950 words when passing the English Test Band Three, for College English Test Band 4 and 6, they should master 4200 and 5500 words respectively, and for postgraduate entrance examination, they should master 5300 words.From the above data, we can see the importance of college students to master vocabulary in learning English.We usually say that "If there is no vocabulary, language will lose actual meaning", and the increase of vocabulary in English learning is the necessary condition for improving listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation skills.The improvement of college students' English proficiency depends to a large extent on their vocabulary.In a certain sense, the mastery of vocabulary can indicate a person's level of foreign language.Therefore, without vocabulary, it is impossible to master language.As D.A.Wilkins, a famous British linguist, says, "without phonetics and grammar, people can't express a lot, but without words, people can't express anything."