The Acquisition of Words’ Meaning Based on Constructivism

Abstract

Students do need opportunities and guidance to acquire the meaning of the word and make the words active. Constructivism stresses that word meaning cannot be assimilated by the child in a ready-made form but have to undergo a certain development. The acquisition of the words meaning depends on the cooperation between the student and the teacher. The aim of this paper is to expound how we can take advantage of the theory of Constructivism to help the students acquire the meaning of the words. Constructivists hold that education should be concerned with helping people to make their own meanings and teachers should present learners with problem-solving activities. Students are hosts. Teachers are instructors and helpers. They emphasize students' important role in learning. Only when we adopt this, can we improve students' thinking ability and realize the sustainable development in students' acquisition of vocabulary.