It has been widely acknowledged that vocabulary is central to language acquisition; however, vocabulary teaching in college classrooms does not seem quite fruitful. Students' oral and wriuten discourse reveals surprisingly high rate of deviant usages. A scientific and effective way of teaching and learning vocabulary is therefore strongly desired. This essay explores a comparatively new approach — 'chunking', which is considered as the key to an understanding of how language works. Theoretical underpinnings of this approach suitable for college classrooms are examined before suggestions and pedagogical implications are made as to how to raise students' chunking awareness.
