Abstract

Vocabulary learning is an important part of English learning. This paper first analyzes relevant memory theories and their implications for vocabulary learning, covering the stages, classification, and forgetting of memory. Then it mainly discusses the applications of the memory theories: imagery strategy, chunk strategy, association strategy, classification strategy, and practicability strategy. As the study has demonstrated, memory theories have instructive significance for vocabulary learning. The strategies based on these theories can help learners learn words in a relaxed and cheerful way, and effectively develop their competence in vocabulary acquisition.

Key words: vocabulary learning, memory theories, application, strategy

摘要
  
词汇学习是英语学习的重要组成部分。本文首先从记忆过程、记忆分类和记忆遗忘等方面分析了相关记忆理论及其对词汇学习的启示。然后，具体阐述了这些理论在词汇学习中的应用，即：图像策略、组块策略、联想策略、分类策略和实用性策略。研究表明：记忆理论对词汇学习有重要的指导意义，根据记忆理论所采取的词汇学习策略可以帮助学习者轻松愉快地学习单词，进而有效地提高其习得词汇的能力。

关键词：词汇学习；记忆理论；应用；策略

1. Introduction
As is known to all, vocabulary learning is very significant in English learning in that it lays the foundation for the improvement of other abilities of foreign language learning. In China, less effort has been put on improving the efficiency of vocabulary learning. In most cases, vocabulary learning methods have been following the traditional route, such as rote memorization, looking up the dictionary, etc. In that way, a lot of other information in a word is often ignored. What’s worse, lack of effective vocabulary learning hinders the further development of language skills.