Psychological cognition process of English vocabulary acquisition

Abstract

This paper aims to disclose the cognitive rules of English vocabulary acquisition, which are important to vocabulary memory and language learning. Firstly, the basic concepts of psychological cognition and fundamental theory of cognitive psychology were reviewed thoroughly. Then, a questionnaire survey was carried out among students from a middle school in Shandong Province, China. Based on the survey data, the author analyzed the students' cognition process of different types of English vocabulary, ranging from nouns, verbs, adjectives to adverbs. The results show that, listening and speaking are the main cognitive channels of vocabulary among students in lower grades, and multiple methods should be integrated to promote the vocabulary learning of these students; English reading proficiency can be enhanced by automatic matching between word form and lexical meaning, with the growth in vocabulary and improvement of psychological cognition; the students have no cognitive difference between English learning and the learning of their mother tongue, and do not have to consider vocabulary changes all the time. The research provides a guide for vocabulary acquisition among English learners.