Applying Situational Language Teaching to Senior High School English Vocabulary Instruction

Abstract

Vocabulary constitutes the foundation of the senior high school English language system and a prerequisite for developing learners' language competence, thinking quality and cross-cultural awareness. Conventional vocabulary pedagogy, however, remains rigid and is plagued by a persistent gap between knowledge acquisition and application, inefficient memorization, low classroom engagement, and weak productive competence—shortcomings that ill fit the educational goals set out in the revised national curriculum standards. Drawing on unit-level teaching cases from senior high school English textbooks, this paper examines the strengths of situational language teaching in vocabulary classrooms and objectively analyzes the practical obstacles that impede its implementation. Building on classroom realities, it proposes targeted optimisation strategies to yield a feasible, actionable pathway for vocabulary instruction. The approach seeks to foster learners' autonomous learning capacity and strategic language use, advance their English core competencies, and support reform efforts toward more efficient vocabulary classrooms.