An Investigation Into High School Learners' Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Among all the factors which influence language learning in our high schools, learning strategy is the most decisive one. As vocabulary is an essential component for language building, the role it plays in the successful acquisition of a foreign language is becoming more and more important. Therefore, vocabulary learning has become an important aspect of English language learning study. The present research aims at providing an empirical study about various kinds of vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies possessed by senior high school learners in the Chinese context. The relationships between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size are displayed as well. This paper examines 512 senior students from No.10 Middle School of Dalian Development Zone through one questionnaire survey and one vocabulary size test.The results of these two parts are inputted into computer and SPSS10.0 statistical analysis is used to analyze them. Descriptive statistics is obtained to see the overall patterns of vocabulary teaming strategies used by the students. Then a correlation analysis is made to probe how various strategies related to vocabulary size test. The major findings are concluded as follows: (1) Overall, senior high school learners emphasize the belief that vocabulary should be learned and applied to use and that vocabulary should be acquired in the context, though they all tend to agree that words can be memorized. (2) Senior high school learners employ a wide range of strategies to learn English vocabulary. Among the three categories, cognitive strategies are the most frequently used and Guessing and Dictionary under the cognitive strategies are the most frequently used. (3) Most vocabulary learning strategies turn out to be positively correlated with the vocabulary size and Dictionary proves to be the most effective way, whereas Translation and Association are found to be negatively related to vocabulary size.The study holds considerable pedagogical implications. As for language learners, it is good to use a variety of learning strategies for the retention of vocabulary. First of all, they should keep in mind that pure retention of decontexualized words offers little value. Then they are supposed to have a plan and management over their memorizing process. Last but not least, they have to put the words they have just learned to practice and review them regularly. As for language teachers, it is high time that they helped students to form their suitable vocabulary learning strategies instead of leaving word-study to students themselves. It is their duty to provide a wealth of activities to increase the learners' awareness of various strategies and to improve their ability to employ strategies appropriately and effectively.