Non-English Major Freshmen’s Perception and Practice of the Vocabulary Notebook as their Vocabulary Learning Strategy

Abstract

<p>Freshmen English is one of the compulsory courses in universities in Taiwan. Vocabulary notebooks are<br />frequently advocated as a way for students to take control of their vocabulary learning (Fowle, 2002).<br />This study focuses on the perception and practice of 157 freshmen, who were all non-English majors, of<br />the vocabulary notebook as their vocabulary learning strategy. The major data in this study included<br />vocabulary notebooks, self-evaluation of keeping vocabulary notebooks, and instructional PowerPoint<br />files. The freshmen in this study had a positive attitude toward vocabulary notebooks, because<br />vocabulary notebooks helped them learn English words and increase their word knowledge,<br />particularly of word families. They used the vocabulary notebooks to review the lessons and prepare for<br />the exams. One interesting finding was that participants in this study preferred making their vocabulary<br />notebooks in hard copy on paper because they could easily carry the notebooks around and review the<br />lessons. Moreover, of all the required elements of the vocabulary notebooks, the learners found that<br />word families were the most useful, because they could memorize word families and use them to make<br />sentences. Suggestions are provided for how to make vocabulary notebooks an effective vocabulary<br />learning strategy.</p>