06 Wang Changxi College English 1-6 Levels New Syllabus Vocabulary Full Word Full Explanation

Author: Wang Changxi, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book is tailored to the reform of college English teaching programs and the College English Test Band 4 and 6 (CET-4 and CET-6) examination reform, which was officially implemented in January 2004. The new "Reference Vocabulary List for College English Teaching Requirements" (also known as the syllabus vocabulary list, hereinafter referred to as "Vocabulary List") was also released. The "Vocabulary List" follows the concept of "personalization" and clearly categorizes the vocabulary students should master at different levels during their university studies, holding significant guiding importance. However, the "reference" nature of the "Vocabulary List" means it only provides "naked" vocabulary without any explanations of parts of speech or semantic ranges, making it difficult for college teachers and students to assess their mastery of the vocabulary. The key question becomes: what basis should be used to determine the parts of speech and semantic ranges of the vocabulary listed in the "Vocabulary List"? We believe that vocabulary serves the communicative functions of language. The scope of vocabulary mastery (which words should be learned) and the depth of semantic mastery (how many meanings of a word should be learned) should be based on the practical application of language rather than the vocabulary and definitions listed in any single or several "authoritative" dictionaries. In other words, we adopt a pragmatic approach in selecting vocabulary and their semantic ranges. For Chinese college students, a practical vocabulary list should help them effectively solve vocabulary problems encountered in textbooks, exams, and practical reading materials (such as common newspapers, magazines, and books). To this end, we conducted a comprehensive statistical analysis of the semantic frequencies in over ten current mainstream college English textbooks, such as "New Horizon College English" (FLTRP), "New College English" (CET), "College English Experience" (HEP), and "Newly Compiled College English" (FLTRP), as well as the past few years' CET-4 and CET-6 examination papers and the semantic frequencies in recent three years' common English newspapers like "China Daily," "21st Century," and "Beijing Weekly." The semantic frequencies in CET-4 and CET-6 examination papers were taken as the primary reference (and marked in the upper right corner of each word, such as "absorb," "10" for total word frequency and "2" for vocabulary question frequency), resulting in the compilation of this set of "Full Word Full Explanation for College English Vocabulary (Syllabus Levels 1-4)" and "Full Word Full Explanation for College English Vocabulary (Syllabus Levels 1-6)." This is a first-of-its-kind initiative nationwide. The book mainly includes the following content:
1. The two volumes of this series (CET-4 and CET-6) provide full explanations of all the words listed in the new syllabus—4,538 for CET-4 and 6,674 for CET-6 (including 1,055 post-CET-6 words)—with complete semantic explanations, known as "Full Word Full Explanation." Words of different levels (middle school, CET-4, CET-6) and different categories (e.g., active vocabulary) are marked with clear symbols, and the meanings of these symbols are printed at the foot of each page for easy identification and lookup. Considering the current usage of college English vocabulary, the 1,055 post-CET-6 words are arranged separately. In addition to semantic explanations, the book provides collocation examples after each meaning to highlight the important usage of the word and the key semantic ranges targeted by CET-4 and CET-6 exams, reflecting the book's distinct focus on these exams.
2. The series also marks the newly added vocabulary during this syllabus revision for users to compare the changes between the old and new syllabus vocabulary. Words included in the old syllabus but no longer listed in the new one are omitted due to their minimal quantity and lack of practical value.
3. The revision of this syllabus also considers the alignment between college English teaching requirements and the new middle school English curriculum requirements. To reflect the differences in word entries and semantic ranges between college and middle school, the series marks not only the differences in entries but also the distinctions in semantic ranges (i.e., mastery requirements): underlined meanings indicate those required to be mastered in middle school, while in cases where a word has both underlined and non-underlined meanings, the non-underlined meanings are the new requirements to be mastered in college. Given the above content and various symbol distinctions, this series comprehensively reflects the new requirements of college English teaching reform and the CET-4 and CET-6 examination reform, holding significant reference value for current and future college students' English learning and exam preparation.