Abstract: This paper probes into a new approach to English vocabulary teaching—lexical approach.The author first introduces the development and achievement of researches on lexical chunks and lexical approach home and abroad.Then the paper reports the results of an empirical study of the role of lexical chunks in English vocabulary acquisition.Finally，the paper concludes that lexical chunks can help significantly improve the ability in English vocabulary acquisition.So the lexical approach indeed offers us a new perspective to English vocabulary teaching.

Key words: lexical chunks, lexical approach, vocabulary acquisition, English vocabulary teaching, learning habit