A Research On English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Employed By Sophomores Of Non-English Major

Vocabulary is a vital component for English acquisition. In the second or foreign language learning, one of the most important aspects is to enlarge learners' vocabulary. Learners have devoted a lot of time to memorizing words, but problems still arise in listening, speaking, reading and writing due to a small vocabulary or the lack of knowledge to use the words. How to learn English vocabulary effectively and efficiently has been a concern of English learners and teachers. Much research has been done on the phenomenon that different learners get different results in the same learning environment. In some cases, even diligent learners could not achieve their vocabulary learning goal. Therefore, the related reasons become a great concern in vocabulary teaching. In recent years, vocabulary learning strategies has emerged as a new and attractive field. To some extent, language is a type of strategic actions. The strategies employed by the learners are closely related to their attitudes, learning beliefs and capability. In the past few years, a lot of vocabulary learning strategies have been explored by linguists and teachers both at home and abroad. However, their research mainly involves English learners of other countries, concrete individual leaning strategies or strategies in controlled situation.The present study attempts to explore the overall pattern of English vocabulary learning strategies used by sophomores of non-English major in China. The questionnaire employed in this study is mostly adapted from Gu and Johnson's categorization (1996) of vocabulary learning strategies. It is based on O'Malley and Chamot's classification of language learning strategies: cognitive strategies, metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies. All the data are analyzed by SPSS. The investigation tries to answer the following four questions: 1) What kinds of learning beliefs do the students prefer to hold in vocabulary learning? 2) What are the differences in all the students' strategy employment in vocabulary learning? 3) What is the interrelationship between students' learning beliefs, the strategies employed in their vocabulary learning and their test scores? 4) What are the differences in the employment of vocabulary learning strategies between students of the two different levels: Level One and Level Three?The subjects of the study are 120 sophomores of non-English major randomly chosen in Shandong University. The findings demonstrate that most of subjects think vocabulary of great importance in their English study. They believe that words should be acquired naturally. And they also believe that vocabulary learning demands a good memory and language talent. Meanwhile, clear plans and goals are necessary. As for vocabulary learning, cognitive strategies are the most frequently used. Guessing, using words actively and rote learning enjoy high frequency. In metacognitive strategies, selective attention and evaluation strategies are frequently used. Yet planning strategies are the least frequently used. Most subjects employ strategies to lower anxiety and establish confidence. Social strategies are less frequently used, which may be related with current English teaching situation in China and students' learning habit. In correlation analysis, all metacognitive strategies, except planning, show significant correlations with their final English exam. Yet only one item of cognitive strategies is significantly correlated. Generally speaking, the Level Three learners apply a much wider variety of strategies in the vocabulary learning process than the Level One students.Such conclusions may help teachers of English reflect on their present teaching practice, and scrutinize the whole teaching process so as to find out the possible problems, and work out feasible solutions to improve vocabulary learning of university students.