目前高雄市的高級中學所使用的英語教科書.共有遠東.三民.龍騰三個版本.而國中的部分有康軒, 南一, 朗文, 翰林, 何嘉仁, 合聲六個版本.本研究希望藉由使用高照明老師的單字頻率測量系統來檢驗國高中英語教科書的單字編排是否連貫.而國中的部分選出最常使用的康軒.南一.翰林三版本為代表.此外.透過前後兩次對於老師訪談談來了解目前中學的實際單字教學情形.結果顯示出國高中的單字編排是相互銜接的.此結果與學生的滿意度.教師的認知及一般普遍性的觀念有所出入.而在訪談的部分單字教學的方法也因為受到教科書的編排.教師本身以及教學行政的影響而產生的一些限制.本研究對於上述之現象作進一步知探討.以期能對於未來的單字教學和教科書編排提供一些新的想法及建議.

Ever since the Ministry of Education handed down the policy “One guiding principle, different versions,” criticizing voices had emerged from everywhere. Parents, teachers, and students all had something to say. What has gone wrong with the education reformation previously claiming to take our children to a better place? Thanks to my current part-time job, I soon learned that there seemed to be existing a noticeable gap between the vocabulary taught in junior high school and senior high schools. Also, vocabulary teaching methods adopted in different school levels might as well take place as pivotal element and lower students’ learning efficiency.
There are presently eighteen senior high schools, public or private, in the Kaohsiung city and three versions(三民, 遠東, 龍騰) of English text books are used in these schools. The situation, however, in junior high schools is a bit more complex because six different versions(康軒, 南一, 朗文, 翰林, 何嘉仁, 合聲) are randomly selected from semester to semester simply based on the opinions of teachers in charge of different grades. Knowing how the teaching materials are selected, I decided to conduct a research by choosing three most frequently used versions of English textbooks from both junior high and senior high schools and to, based on Dr. Gao(高照明)’s word-frequency-checking program, figure out that into which levels the vocabulary taught at two levels falls. The study is, furthermore, attached with two sets of interviews aiming at junior and senior high school teachers and a questionnaire directing to students of both levels with the purpose of a better understanding of the authentic EVT situations in the academic environment. Contrary to the common perception, that there is a vocabulary gap between the two high school levels, the figures surprisingly show us that the junior and senior high English textbooks are very much consecutive on vocabulary. This result reveals one fact that even the vocabulary is consecutively compiled, all of the efforts will still be in futility if the time given to students to absorb new knowledge isn’t enough. As for the interview section, almost all of the interviewees agreed that the conception to emphasize “word frequency” is rather critical in vocabulary learning. Nonetheless, other factors such as time limit and personal background also get involved to influence the expected goal. The researcher, by means of the gained data, tried to set forth the outcome and come up with a solution hoping to provide the English learners a sounder set of learning tools and the relevant authorities an alternative of selecting textbooks while promising our people a “consecutive” academic curriculum.

Abstract 1
Chapter One INTRODUCTION 3
Background and Motivation 3
Coherence in Vocabulary in Junior and Senior High School Textbooks & Importance of word frequency 4
Problems of current vocabulary teaching methods 6
Research Questions 7
Research Design 8
Significance of the study 10
Definition of Terms 11
Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW 12
Aspect of Vocabulary Learning 12
The Importance of Vocabulary in Language Learning 12
Vocabulary Size 15
Word Frequency 17
Handling high-frequency words 18
Handling low-frequency words 19
Knowing a Word 20
Textbook and Vocabulary 23
Presenting Vocabulary in Textbooks 25
Vocabulary Teaching 26
Historical Evolvement in the Teaching of Vocabulary 26
The Importance of Vocabulary Teaching 28
General Principles for Effective Vocabulary Teaching 29
Teaching Vocabulary Learning Strategies 32
Word Part Analysis 33
The Acoustic Method 35
The Pictorial Method 36
The Keyword Method 38
Dictionary Use 40
Teaching Practice in Taiwan 42
Chapter Three METHOD 45
Research Design 45
Instruments 46
Textbooks 47
Gao’s Word Counting Program 49
First Interview 50
Second Interview 50
Questionnaire 51
Statistical Analysis 52
Subjects 53
Interview 53
Questionnaire 55
Pilot Study 55
Data Collection 56
Questionnaire 56
Interview 57
Validity and Reliability 58
Validity 58
Reliability 60
Chapter Four RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 61
Textbook Analysis 61
Questionnaire Analysis 64
Part 1 64
Part 2 64
Part 3 68
Differences Between The Two Groups 73
First Interview 75
Part 1: Teaching Materials 76
Part 2: Vocabulary Teaching 79
Second Interview 85
Chapter Five CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 88
Conclusion and Further Discussion 88
Vocabulary compilation in the textbooks of the two levels 88
Student Questionnaire 89
Teacher interview 91
Pedagogical Implications 94
Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research 97
References 100
Appendix A 107
Appendix B 109

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