An Approach To The Metacognitive Strategies In English Vocabulary Acquisition

Lexicology is the backbone for the survival of language system and thefundamental element of the foreign language learning. Wilkins, a distinguishedlinguist, indicated:"without grammar very little can be conveyed; without vocabularynothing can be conveyed." According to River, the key to a successful use of theforeign language is to master sufficient vocabulary. It shows that the knowledge ofvocabulary is closely related to the ability of listening, speaking, reading, writing andtranslating, directly affecting the quality of language input and output. The effectiveEnglish communication can be executed only when the sufficient vocabulary ismastered and properly used. Based on the deep understanding of the meaning ofvocabulary acquisition, the paper will carry out the research and the discussion in thefield to find the best way of vocabulary acquisition, so as to provide the theoreticaland practical foundation for vocabulary teaching.Most English learners in China present indifferently in lexical competence, whichhas seriously hindered the development of their language ability. The main reasonsthat cause the situation are due to the deficiency of the learners’ vocabulary learningstrategies and the insufficiency of the teachers’ guidance to the strategies. Therefore, itis necessary for the teachers to cultivate the learners’ learning strategies, especially themetacognitive strategies in vocabulary learning.The theory of metacognition was proposed by an American psychologist J. H.Flavell in1976and many experts have applied it to the study of language learning.Metacognition means "cognition about cognition", guiding and controlling theactivities of thinking and learning. Metacognitive strategy refers to the knowledgeabout the cognitive process, which is a kind of learners’ behavior to regulate the learning process through planning, monitoring and evaluating, as well as a method topositively arrange, monitor and adjust the task. Metacognitive strategies contribute toreducing the blindness, impulsiveness and irrationality in the learning activities, for itis powerful in execution and programming. O’Malley and Chamot (1990) pointed outthat the metacognitive strategies control the use of the cognitive strategies and thesuccess of learning depends largely on the use of metacognitive strategies. Therefore,the understanding of metacognition and the mastery of the metacognitive strategiescan help the learners better accomplish the task of language learning, aiding them toimprove their language level.This paper will make a general introduction about metacognition andmetacognitive strategies and help to understand profoundly the significance ofvocabulary acquisition. What’s more, the cultivation of the metacognitive strategiesshould be launched consciously and systematically in the process of teaching withpurpose to foster independent, autonomous and effective learners. Valid ways ofEnglish vocabulary learning are explored in the point of cognition to provide the basisfor vocabulary teaching theoretically and in practically.The research on metacognition and the metacognitive strategies in English hasobtained certain achievements, but some problems are worth researching in depth.This paper will focus on discussing the following three problems:i. What kind of role do the three aspects of metacognitive strategies play in theprocess of Chinese non-English majors’ vocabulary acquisition?ii. What kind of relationship is between the use of metacognitive strategies and theachievement of Chinese non-English majors’ vocabulary acquisition?iii. How to cultivate the metacognitive ability through vocabulary strategyinstruction in the process of Chinese non-English majors’ vocabulary acquisition?The empirical study has verified that the metacognitive training can dramaticallypromote the learners vocabulary learning and presents a positive correlation to theimprovement of their vocabulary test scores. Meanwhile, a series of metacognitivestrategies are put forward to guide the learners in the process of vocabularyacquisition, enhancing their vocabulary ability. After all, vocabulary teaching is just like the cornerstone of the whole language teaching, only by plenty of meticulousscientific researches can it be possible to break the bottleneck and promote the healthydevelopment of foreign language teaching.