A Study On The English Vocabulary Learning Strategies For Senior High Students

As is described in the syllabus, the main goal of English teaching in high schools is to improve students' communicative competence in English, especially their reading ability. However, from English examinations, we have found that most students are very poor in vocabulary and comprehensive reading. They are not able to recall the words they have learned. From the vocabulary test, we find that the students have a very small vocabulary despite having learnt English since primary school. The author argues that a small size of vocabulary is the main factor that retrains proficiency. By conducting a survey of vocabulary learning strategies and an experimental learning, the author tried to test the following hypotheses:1. A lack of effective vocabulary learning strategies is the main cause of the students' poor English level.2. Proper use of memorizing strategies can aid learners to remember the words learned and improve the retention rate.3. Reading skills can be improved with the growth of vocabulary knowledge.From the survey, the author finds that students use a narrow range of vocabulary learning strategies. Most of them only use rote strategies. In other words, they need proper and effective vocabulary learning strategies. They know about some strategies, but they never thought of using them.In the survey, students of both groups were given a list of vocabulary to remember, which include 3,660 words and phrases listed in the National English Curriculum Standard. Students in the control group memorize those words by using the rote strategies they often use; while those in the experimental group adopt some effective vocabulary learning strategies. In addition, the experiment group were given sample sentences of important words and did proper exercises of various kinds. After a term's experimental learning, there was a statistically difference between the two groups. The good post-test performance of the experimental group confirm the hypothesis that those in the experiment group benefited from effective vocabulary learning strategies; and the author also finds they have been using reading skills more effectively with the growth of their vocabulary.Therefore, this thesis presents that teaching and learning English in our senior high schools can't achieve well if vocabulary learning strategies are neglected. With good vocabulary learning strategies, students can enlarge their vocabulary and have a good...