1.2 Purpose and Significance of the Research
Although there is no denying that English vocabulary teaching and learning occupies an extremely important position, vocabulary memorization is always one of the biggest obstacles among Chinese students' English learning. So the problem how to ensure the vocabulary teaching deploy smoothly and effectively has received much concern from all English teachers. What's more, although the New National English Curriculum Standards has been promulgated and implemented for quite some time, and many English teachers do have realized that they should pay more attention to cultivating students' interest in English and the ability of using English to do something, the actual teaching is still always related to all kinds of exams such as unit tests, mid-term exams and final exams. So teachers are forced not to ignore the scores students can obtain. As a result, over time, students are trained to be examination-oriented, and teachers would spend most of the time in imparting only language points into students. Teachers would also have misunderstandings in vocabulary teaching, such as over-emphasizing the transmission and explanation of knowledge about vocabulary and neglecting to develop students’ ability to use vocabulary for real. In addition, along with the update of English textbook, primary school English vocabulary teaching faces a new challenge in the matter of how to simultaneously ensure its effectiveness, practicability and interestingness.
Therefore, the purpose of this study can be summarized into three points:
First is to obtain the current situation of English vocabulary teaching in primary school. Second is to find out the redeeming features and problems existing in the vocabulary teaching. The last is to provide some suggestions to improve future vocabulary teaching in primary schools.
Meanwhile, it also provides such significance as follows:
In the first place, it explores out some methods of English vocabulary teaching and promoting students’ efficiency in learning English vocabulary. In this case, teachers can polish their teaching practice and have a chance to improve their overall professional level. In the second place, it better fulfills the educational philosophy proposed by the New Curriculum Standards. The development of students' mentality and physiology can be fully respected. The interest in learning vocabulary can be stimulated and maintained. And the boring learning process can be turned into a procedure where they can gain a sense of achievement, self-confidence, and happiness. In the last place, it helps to promote the proper interpretation and innovative utilization of the new textbooks. The new teaching material has been totally updated by the spring of 2015. Because so many primary school English teachers are still in the exploring stage, we aim to find out some more suitable and better ways to organize their vocabulary teaching activities. After this study, we hope we will find some inspirations to help solve their bewilderment and problems in the process of using new English textbooks to deploy vocabulary teaching.
 
Chapter Two Literature Review
2.1 The Concept of English Vocabulary Teaching
English vocabulary teaching refers to a teaching process and a design of teaching activities, setting English vocabulary as the teaching content and setting the comprehension and application of target English vocabulary as teaching objectives (Wang Duqin, 2010, p.81). In class, the handling of vocabulary is often involved with the English teaching procedures of listening, speaking, reading and grammar. These kinds of presentation of vocabulary, however, cannot be classified as English vocabulary teaching because their teaching objectives are aimed at training students' ability of listening, speaking, reading or grammar, rather than vocabulary. At the elementary level, a whole class can be sometimes used to teach and learn English vocabulary, but sometimes the teaching of vocabulary may be combined with the teaching of other knowledge or skills. As long as one kind of teaching is defined as the vocabulary teaching, its teaching objective must be the learning of English vocabulary. What's more, its teaching process and design of teaching activities should also set the accomplishment of the teaching objective of vocabulary learning as its teaching objective (Ibid., p.81). 基于新《国家英语课程标准》小学英语词汇教学调查(3):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_20156.html