A Survey On English Vocabulary Learning Strategies By Junior Middle School Students

Vocabulary is the basic element to make up a language.So vocabulary acquisition is considered to be one of the most basic and important parts of a language.However,the large amount of vocabulary required to master by new standard curriculum becomes an obstacle for junior middle school students.Luckily,vocabulary learning strategies play a helpful role in the vocabulary learning process.So this research focuses on how to help middle school students choose and use the right vocabulary strategies,how to use vocabulary learning strategies solve the vocabulary memory problems for middle school students,and finally how to improve their English ability.In recent years,many scholars have explored vocabulary learning strategies from different angles and different subjects.However,the literature review shows that most of these studies are aimed at college students and senior high school students.There are few studies on the current situation of vocabulary learning strategies used by junior middle school students.This study mainly investigates the current situation of vocabulary learning strategies by junior middle school students,taking the participants from Xinxiang No.10 Middle School.This research mainly answers the following questions:1.What kinds of beliefs do junior middle school students hold in learning English vocabulary?2.What vocabulary learning strategies do junior middle school students tend to employ?3.What is the correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and English achievements?Based on the theory of English vocabulary learning strategies abroad and at home this research investigates the current situation of vocabulary learning strategies by junior middle school students.The questionnaire is slightly modified from the English Vocabulary Learning Scale by junior middle school students designed by Li Songhao in 2003,basing on the theory of Gu and Johnson's classification of vocabulary learning strategies.121 students were randomly selected from Xinxiang No.10 middle school as the subjects of this study.First,this study investigated the present situation of vocabulary learning strategies in different classes.Then the study investigated vocabulary learning strategies(VLSs)employed by three grades students longitudinally.The data collected were analyzed with SPSS 17.0.According to the principle of statistics,after the analysis and discussion this study draws the following conclusion.(1)Most junior middle school students hold the belief that words should be learned through use.(2)The mean value of meta-cognitive strategies and that of cognitive strategies stay at the medium level,showing that the overall use frequency is not high by junior middle school students.However,the meaning-oriented note-taking strategy,extended dictionary strategy and using linguistic cues(from high mean value to low)stay at a relatively high level.(3)There is a positive correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and English scores,but it is not significant.Nevertheless there is a significant positive correlation between cognitive strategies and English achievements.Finally,according to the above conclusions,the present study puts forward some teaching suggestions for English vocabulary teaching in junior middle schools.The present study consists of five chapters.Chapter One is introduction,which presents the background of the research,the purpose of the research,the significance of the research and the organization of the thesis.Chapter Two retrospect literature both at home and aboard in order to lay a theoretical foundation for the present study.Chapter Three is the research design.As the most important part in this research,Chapter Four states a detailed illustration of the vocabulary learning strategies employed by junior middle school students.This part also presents the correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and English scores.In the last part,this study presents the major findings of the research,pedagogical implications for vocabulary teaching,the prospects for future vocabulary learning and limitations of this study.