An Empirical Study On Vocabulary Learning Based On The VLS In Rural High School

The recent years have witnessed the pressure on English learners and their English teachers, exerted by the National Entrance Exam (NEE) as well as the New Curriculum Standard (NCS). For NEE100more English words is on the test list each year, and there will be3,000to grasp before the students leave school.This requirement seems to be too compelling for the students, in particular, to those in the rural areas, who have fewer efficient vocabulary learning strategies available other than rote learning by the alphabetical order as given in the word lists of each coursebook. And the situation with the teachers is no better, for they equally suffer from poverty of vocabulary learning and teaching strategies, though at the same time they are supposed to consider life-long learning or development of the students, with reference to NCS.In view of the challenges to the students and the teachers in the country this study is conducted, seeking to figure out what introducing vocabulary learning strategies into classrooms will come to, wishing to alter or even change the states of affairs, if a more efficient and less burdensome teaching would come out.This study starts with questionnaire distribution and analysis, on the basis of which two classes are chosen:The experiment class is for incorporating vocabulary learning strategies into classroom teaching, while the control group-the other class follows the traditional practices. After four months’ varied forms of training in learning strategies related to pronunciation, spelling, and meaning, the following results are obtained:The experiment class can make use of efficient learning strategies to deal with difficult words or expressions, and their grades in tests, exams as well as vocabulary as one single section, have improved, in contrast with the control group.This research has, to a great extent, shown that it is practicable to resort to learning strategies when vocabulary problems are the concern.