Vocabulary Learning Strategies: Exploring Trends among Croatian Medical Students

Abstract

In order to fully develop their academic and professional competencies, medical doctors (MDs) need to be highly proficient in English. Since vocabulary learning, as a fundamental aspect in language learning, is a continuous and complex process, the overall objective of the current research is to get an insight into vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) employed by medical students. To be specific, this study aims at (a) exploring VLS that medical students in Croatia use in order to learn target vocabulary; (b) investigating the relationship between VLS subscales and different types of vocabulary knowledge; and (c) analyzing differences in the mean strategy use between male and female students as well as among low-, middle- and high-scoring students. The results indicate that medical students use a core inventory of VLS, whereby showing preference for the category of self-initiated vocabulary learning (SI-IVL). Further, there is a very small statistically significant correlation between formal vocabulary learning (FVL) strategies and controlled-productive type of vocabulary knowledge. Findings also reveal that female students use SI-IVL and FVL strategies significantly more often than their male counterparts and that there are no statistically significant differences in the mean VLS use by English language proficiency levels. The results of this study imply the need for teacher training aimed at developing specific skills for providing their students with explicit instruction in VLS use.