Vocabulary Learning Strategies Research Articles

The Analysis of the Test for English Vocabulary Learning Strategies under Relativism

English words are the foundation and necessary prerequisites for English learning. The amount of English vocabulary that students memorized and mastered directly affects students’ ability to use language such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. The author tried to seek out the ways and strategies which help English learners to mater vocabularies from the point of words relativism. To carry out the process of the research, the author adopted sample surveys, interviews, and word tests to investigate individuals or team-work vocabulary learning. From the result of word tests, the team-work vocabulary learning is superior to that of individuals’. Thus, the author concentrates on analyzing the outer connection of words in the context network, and finds effective ways to establish word exogenous connections. Meanwhile, the inner elements that affect vocabulary learning is equally important, including brain science, learning science, semantic network.

Reassessing second language reading comprehension: Insights from the psycholinguistics notion of sentence processing

Theories and practices in second language reading pedagogy often overlook the sentence processing description from the psycholinguistics perspective. Second language reading comprehension is easily associated with vocabulary learning or discourse strategy. Yet, such activities can lead to an unnatural way of reading such as translating vocabularies or pointing out information as required. Meanwhile the authentic way of reading should encourage a natural stream of ideas to be interpreted from sentence to sentence. As suggested by the sentence processing notion from the psycholinguistics point of view, syntax appears to be the key to effective and authentic reading as opposed to the general belief of semantic or discourse information being the primary concern. This article argues that understanding the architecture of sentence processing, with syntactic parsing at the core of the underlying mechanism, can offer insights into the second language reading pedagogy. The concepts of syntactic parsing, reanalysis, and sentence processing models are described to give the idea of how sentence processing works. Additionally, a critical review on the differences between L1 and L2 sentence processing is presented considering the recent debate on individual differences as significant indicators of nativelike L2 sentence processing. Lastly, implications for the L2 reading pedagogy and potential implementation in instructional setting are discussed.

어휘 학습 전략 교육이 어휘 다양성에 미치는 영향: L2 한국어 학습자의 예

본 연구에서는 구어와 문어 자료에서 어휘 다양성이 높은 집단이 많이 사용하는 어휘 학습 전략을 추출하고 추출한 교육하여 그 효과를 확인하고자 하였다. 상위 집단에서 사용하는 어휘 학습 전략을 추출하기 위해 설문 조사를 통해 어휘 학습 전략을 조사하고 평균 D값을 측정하였다. 그 결과, 어휘 다양성이 높은 집단이 많이 사용하는 어휘 학습 전략 세 개(‘새 단어를 여러 번 말하면서 암기한다.’, ‘새 단어가 사용될 수 있는 상황을 생각하면서 그 단어를 외운다.’, ‘모르는 단어가 있으면 문맥적 흐름으로 의미를 추측한다.’)를 추출할 수 있었다. 이를 바탕으로 추출된 어휘 학습 전략 교육 전후의 평균 D값을 통해 구어, 문어, 표현 어휘 다양성을 측정하고 그 결과를 제시하였다. 구어와 표현 어휘 다양성 교육 전후의 경우, ‘새 단어가 사용될 수 있는 상황을 생각하면서 그 단어를 외운다.’, ‘모르는 단어가 있으면 문맥적 흐름으로 의미를 추측한다.’, ‘새 단어를 여러 번 말하면서 암기한다.’ 순으로 전략 교육의 효과가 큰 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 문어 어휘 다양성은 교육 전후에 ‘새 단어를 여러 번 말하면서 암기한다.’ 전략을 사용하는 경우에만 효과가 있는 것으로 나타났다.

고등학생의 영어 어휘학습전략 사용과 동기의 관계

This study aims to investigate the relationship between high school students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and their motivation. Its main concern is with how the relationship varies between three student groups divided according to their vocabulary achievement. A survey was taken by a total of 275 students enrolled in a high school in Gyeonggi province. 232 students were selected to be studied. The students were divided into three groups - advanced, intermediate, and beginner levels - based on their performance in vocabulary tests. Their responses were analyzed through SPSS to produce both basic descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show the three groups differ regarding which strategies both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation had a significant impact on - these were memory and cognitive strategies for the advanced level group; decision, social, memory and metacognitive strategies for the intermediate level group, and none for the beginner level group. The results also show that the three groups differ regarding which strategies only extrinsic or intrinsic motivation had a significant impact on.

A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies in EFL Reading of High, Middle and Low Vocabulary Achievers of Thai Tertiary Students

This research investigated vocabulary acquisition (VA) and vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) use of Thai EFL graduates of a government university in southern Thailand through English narrative readings that inserted fifteen target words into each reading text. The main purpose of the reading treatment was reading comprehension skills. The study also examined implications for EFL vocabulary learning and teaching in Thai context. The sample of fifteen Thai EFL graduates was selected from one group of 40 first year students majoring in Accountancy from a southern Thailand government university. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview. The interview session was used to elicit information about their VLS use and vocabulary learning experiences. The interview forms after the reading treatment provided a greater insight into the interviewing process behind the participants’ VLS selection and showed how they deduced word meanings of unfamiliar English vocabulary in the narrative reading tasks. Research findings showed that Thai EFL learners in this study apparently show a greater preference for the translation, metacognitive regulation, memory and cognitive strategies than for the determination, metacognitive and social strategies. The findings demonstrate the indirect influence of learners’ previous English vocabulary learning on their English language skill development. In addition, this study suggests a close link between vocabulary learning strategy selection, vocabulary knowledge and language skill development in EFL context, especially southern Thailand.

A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies and their Effect on Vocabulary Development

Language learners use Vocabulary Learning Strategies to learn new words or to consolidate the meaning of words they have already learnt. This paper presents findings of a study conducted to examine the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by English as a second language (ESL) learners when learning English at tertiary level, in Sri Lanka. The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of VLS used by ESL learners with the view of adopting better vocabulary teaching methods in the classroom. The study made use of a questionnaire, a vocabulary learning activity and a delayed post-test to obtain data. Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies was utilized in categorizing the data collected. The research brought to light the common strategies used by learners when learning the meaning of unfamiliar words in the target language and the strategies used by them when recalling the meaning of already learnt words. The results show that when students fall back on their mother tongue to learn and retain the meaning of target language vocabulary it impedes the vocabulary learning process, the development of reading skills and target language proficiency.

Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Turkish EFL Learners: A Focus on Gender

This study aimed to (a) identify vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) employed by Turkish EFL learners; (b) determine whether the use of VLSs varies by gender. To achieve these aims, the vocabulary learning strategies scale developed by Kocaman and Kizilkaya Cumaoglu (2014) was administered to preparatory school students (n=209) at a state university in Turkey. Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) and an independent-samples t-test were used for statistical analyses. The results revealed that the frequency of VLS use was at a medium level. In addition, analysis of the sub-dimensions of the scale showed that memory, cognitive, compensation, and social strategies were used at a medium frequency level, while metacognitive and affective strategies were used at a high frequency. When VLS use was analyzed with respect to gender, a significant difference was seen between males and females, with female students having a higher total mean score than male students. Also, female students reported more use of memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, and affective strategies; however, no statistically significant gender difference was found regarding the frequency of the use of social strategies.

EFL Students’ Awareness and Use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies in EFL Classes: The Case of Grade 11 Students at Woreta Secondary and Preparatory School, South Gondar, Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to study grade 11 students’ awareness and use of vocabulary learning strategies in EFL classes at Woreta Secondary and Preparatory School. To conduct this study, mixed research (qualitative and qualitative) method was employed due to the nature of the research problem. The population of the study were Grade 11 students who were enrolled in the year 2009 E.c and five Grade 11 EFL teachers. As it was impossible to incorporate all students in this study, 120 (14%) out of the total population of 841 students were selected using simple random sampling method. Hence, 120 students were all selected for questionnaire. Furthermore, six students were randomly selected from those 120 students and 2 EFL teachers who were teaching English were selected for interview. Data were collected using questionnaire, interviews and observations. The data obtained from the samples were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative data were presented using frequency and percentage. The findings of this study indicated that the students did not know many vocabulary learning strategies and did not think that these vocabulary learning strategies are important to increase their word power. The students employed only a few vocabulary learning strategies. Finally, it was concluded that the students lack awareness about the vocabulary learning strategies and they did not use as many vocabulary learning strategies as they can. Based on the find of the study the researcher recommended that teachers must create awareness about vocabulary learning strategies and should give opportunities for their students to practice different vocabulary learning strategies. Key terms : vocabulary learning strategies, memory strategies, cognitive strategies, social strategies, awareness DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/76-02 Publication date: February 28 th 2021

Technology-Assisted Self-Regulated English Language Learning: Associations With English Language Self-Efficacy, English Enjoyment, and Learning Outcomes.

This study investigated Chinese university students’ technology-assisted self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and whether the technology-based SRL strategies mediated the associations between English language self-efficacy, English enjoyment, and learning outcomes. Data were collected from 525 undergraduate students in mainland China through three self-report questionnaires and the performance on an English language proficiency test. While students reported an overall moderate level of SRL strategies, they reported a high level of technology-based vocabulary learning strategies. A statistically significant positive relationship was noted between the use of technology-based SRL strategies and students’ English learning outcomes. English language self-efficacy and English language enjoyment were both related to technology-based SRL strategies. Furthermore, SRL strategies fully mediated the relationship between English enjoyment and English learning outcomes, but the association between English enjoyment and SRL strategies was only partially mediated by English language self-efficacy. Pedagogically, findings of this study suggest that training and instruction aimed at promotion of modern educational technology among students need to give attention to developing their strategic awareness of motivation regulation in optimizing effectiveness of their technology use in learning the target language.

Exploring Types of Vocabulary Learning Strategies used by TESL Teacher Trainees at The Institute of Teachers Education

Vocabulary is described as an essential element in second language learning. Having a good command over vocabulary helps in gaining unlimited access to latest information available at different platforms. Therefore, improving vocabulary through Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) will help the second language learners to become, academically and communicatively, more successful. The present study investigated the types of vocabulary learning strategies used by teacher trainees majoring in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the Institute for Teachers Education (ITEs) Darulaman Campus. Vocabulary learning strategies or skills are not directly taught to TESL teacher trainees during their training at ITEs. Teaching and learning vocabulary strategies are neglected by most of the teacher trainees. However, they need to make their teaching and learning processes more successful while learning a second language. This study was conducted based on the theories related to second language acquisition and used qualitative approach using the structured interviews of 14 TESL teacher trainees. The findings of the study were analysed based on Gu and Johnson’s (1996) and Schmitt (1996) categorisation of Vocabulary Learning Strategies and the results revealed TESL teacher trainees employed more metacognitive strategies in their vocabulary learning compared to other nine VLSs.

Strategije za učenje vokabulara engleskog jezika kao stranog kod učenika srednjih škola

The paper examines how frequently high school students use EFL vocabulary learning strategies and whether contextual educational factors have any influence on strategy selection. The theoretical part discusses the importance of language learning strategies, which can facilitate the internalization, storage, retrieval, or use of the new language, factors that affect their usage and selection (e.g. nature of the task, students' motivation, foreign language proficiency, teacher's expectations, students' learning styles, students' gender), as well as the process of vocabulary acquisition. The empirical part presents the results of the analysis of a survey conducted among students from two high schools in Serbia, a vocational school and a grammar school. The aim of the research is to determine how frequently students use vocabulary learning strategies and if there are any statistically significant differences in strategy use between students from the two schools which are the consequence of different subjects and learning objectives. The results show that the majority of vocabulary learning strategies have medium use among high school students (seven out of nine memory strategies, seven out of nine cognitive strategies and two out of four compensatory strategies) and that there are certain inter-group differences (whereas students from the medical high school use memory strategies more frequently, students from the grammar school report higher use of cognitive and compensatory strategies). The results indicate that there are important cross-curricular links which point to the transfer of learning strategies from content subjects to English language classes.

The Relationship Between Personality Traits and Vocabulary Learning Strategies

This study examined the possible relationship between Iranian female intermediate EFL learners' personality traits and their vocabulary learning strategies. The participants in this study comprised of 90 female intermediate English language learners. To ensure the homogeneity of the group, all the participants were made to appear in the Oxford Solution Placement Test. Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Eysenck Personality questionnaires were administered to the participants. The results showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between Iranian intermediate EFL learners' personality type and their use of vocabulary learning strategies. However, it appeared that introverts tended to have higher use of memory, cognitive, and metacognitive strategies while extroverts were found to achieve higher mean scores on determination and social strategies. The highest degree of the relationship was found between social strategy and personality types. In contrast, lowest correlation was found between metacognitive strategy and personality types.

Chinese EFL University Students’ Use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies

This study investigated into the types of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) employed by EFL university students. The VLSs questionnaire was conducted and the sampling in this study was 71 English major students with higher and lower educational levels in a Chinese university. The study discovered that the determination and cognitive strategies were frequently employed by students. They most frequently used written and visual repetition, rehearsed on words’ spellings and sounds, had meaning-oriented note-taking, memorised the fixed phrases and sentences, used bilingual dictionaries, guessed words’ meanings and understood words through Chinese equivalents. Students also learned to tell themselves to feel less stressed when learning vocabulary. Students mainly focused on getting words’ meanings and the mechanical strategies they used were associated with understanding. By contrast, social/affective and metacognitive strategies were the least frequently used. Also, memory strategies such as words’ grammatical forms and word association, were less often employed. Students with a higher educational level more often associated words and noticed their vocabulary learning progresses. Therefore, learning maturity had impact on students’ choices of VLSs. In these cases, it is suggested that students use more types of VLSs such as memory and metacognitive strategies. English teachers are suggested to have strategy instructions and guide students to learn vocabulary through group discussions in classes. Additionally, studying vocabulary incidentally through both intensive and extensive reading is recommended to be taken into consideration.

The Gap between Receptive and Productive Vocabulary and Vocabulary Learning Strategies

The Gap between Receptive and Productive Vocabulary and Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Foreign Language Acquisition at Private Schools

The current research aims to investigate how English Language Learners help their students improve their vocabulary at private university at Kurdistan. Since vocabulary knowledge has a significant role in mastering the new language and in attaining total academic achievement, especially when language is used as a medium of instruction. Students in Kurdistan need English language practically rather than only for fulfilling the academic demand to obtain a certain degree, at the same time in order to help students be successful in practicing English language as a second language they need to gain greater knowledge of the language. Learning vocabulary is an important factor in learning English language, therefore it is very important to address the question of how students build and create their vocabularies, what kind of strategies do they employ in order to learn new vocabulary; therefore the current study is to examine the variety and range of vocabulary learning strategies among students. The findings of this study revealed that (Memory, Cognitive, metacognitive and social) strategies had positive relation with self-regulatory capacities in vocabulary learning. The highest value was for social strategy (B=.547), accordingly social strategy had a strong positive relationship with self-regulatory capacity in vocabulary learning.

Memory Strategies for Vocabulary Learning Employed by Saudi Undergraduate EFL Learners

Memory Strategies for Vocabulary Learning Employed by Saudi Undergraduate EFL Learners

Didaktički koncept Learners as designers u nastavi nemačkog kao stranog jezika

This paper deals with the didactic concept of Learners As Designers (Jonassen and Reeves, 1996) which is based on the assumption that digital media have the potential to accompany, support, and complement the learning process as a cognitive tool, to enable active knowledge construction and transfer, and to change the role of learners in the classroom. The events triggered by the pandemic have reinforced the need for distance learning, which requires the ability to work autonomously, to further develop learning strategies supported by digital tools, and to develop key competencies. The study aimed to determine the potential of the Learners As Designers concept to motivate students to learn autonomously, apply new vocabulary learning strategies supported by digital tools, and improve their digital literacy. The study was conducted in 2019/2020 among 78 students of German for Specific Purposes at the University of Belgrade, Singidunum University Belgrade, Serbia, and University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The students used the digital tool Quizlet to consolidate lexical items. Data were collected through a questionnaire with open and closed questions. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that students spend more time on vocabulary learning than before. The qualitative analysis reflects their opinion that they learned more and were motivated because of the opportunity to create learning material autonomously and collaboratively. There is also a trend of increased vocabulary learning frequency, especially with the support of digital tools.

A study of vocabulary learning strategies among high and low Iranian English vocabulary learners

Learning a foreign/second language is a dynamic and complicated process that benefits from learners taking strategic steps to facilitate their own learning. Accordingly, the current study investiga...

A Comparative Study of English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Iranian Bilinguals and Monolinguals

The present study is an attempt to explore English vocabulary learning strategies employed by Iranian EFL undergraduate Baluch-Persian bilingual and Persian monolingual students in the University of Sistan and Baluchestan. The study utilized a between-groups research design. The participants of this study were 33 bilingual (Baluch-Persian) and 34 monolingual (Persian) students with an intermediate level of English. Their age ranged from 19 to 24 and. In order to collect the data, adapted version of Schmitt’s (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire (VLSQ) with a five-point Likert scale was administrated. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test. The results indicated that EFL students use a wide range of vocabulary learning strategies. Furthermore, the findings revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between bilinguals and monolinguals regarding English VLSs. Finally, the paper ends up with a number of pedagogical implications for English teachers.

International Students’ Vocabulary Learning Strategies at the English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students’ Program

<p style="text-align: justify;">The purpose of this research is to investigate the Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) employed by international students who are studying English as a second language at the English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students Program (ELICOS) of the University of Canberra College English Language Centre (UCCELC) in Australia. A qualitative design was used to gather information from six international students from different countries including Indonesia, China, Philippine, and Japan by using interviews. The results from the interview were then analyzed and presented by using the qualitative research procedures including coding, grouping, argument construction, and drafting. The finding of this research revealed that students at the ELICOS program employ various VLS including cognitive, metacognitive, memory, and social strategies. Cognitive strategies are identified as the most popular strategies used by the students, followed by metacognitive and memory strategies respectively and social strategies are recognized as the least popular. These findings have important implications in improving the quality of language teaching and learning process and enriching the research repertoire in the field of VLS.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui strategi pembelajaran kosa kata yang digunakan oleh mahasiswa internasional yang sedang mempelajari bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua di English Language Intensive Course for Foreign Students Program (ELICOS) di University of Canberra College English Language Centre (UCCELC) di Australia. Desain kualitatif digunakan untuk mengumpulkan informasi kepada enam siswa internasional dari berbagai negara termasuk Indonesia, Cina, Filipina, dan Jepang dengan menggunakan wawancara. Hasil wawancara kemudian dianalisis dan disajikan dengan menggunakan prosedur penelitian kualitatif meliputi pengkodean, pengelompokan, penyusunan argumen dan penyusunan. Temuan penelitian ini mengungkapkan bahwa siswa pada program ELICOS menerapkan berbagai strategi pembelajaran kosakata termasuk strategi kognitif, metakognitif, memori dan sosial. Strategi kognitif diidentifikasi sebagai strategi paling populer diikuti oleh strategi metakognitif dan memori masing-masing dan strategi sosial diakui sebagai yang paling tidak populer. Temuan ini memiliki implikasi penting dalam meningkatkan kualitas proses belajar mengajar bahasa dan memperkaya khasanah penelitian di bidang strategi pembelajaran kosa kata. </em></p>