A Study On The Correlation Between Meta-cognitive Strategies And Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition In Senior High School English Reading

As the basis of second language learning,vocabulary is one of the most important factors affecting second language acquisition.However,vocabulary acquisition has always been a non-negligible problem for English learners.Therefore,effective second language vocabulary learning methods have already been the focus of researches in the field of second language acquisition.Nagy,Herman and Anderson proposed Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in their research in 1985.Since then,researchers have focused on the influence factors of Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition in the second language learning for decades.These factors include external factors such as task type,input-output mode and annotation type,as well as internal factors such as learners’ vocabulary size and learning motivation.From the aspect of learners’ internal influence factors,this study explores the correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and incidental vocabulary acquisition through English reading,based on the theoretical frameworks of Ternary Intelligence Theory,Input Hypothesis and Attention Hypothesis.In this study,80 subjects,from a senior high school of Shandong Province,firstly are required to conduct the Meta-cognitive Strategy Scale Test and then to complete reading comprehension,conduct the immediate and delay English vocabulary tests respectively.This study attempts to explore the following three questions:(1)What is the status quo of applying meta-cognitive strategies to English reading by the senior high school students?(2)Is there the correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and incidental vocabulary acquisition in English reading?(3)Is there the correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and vocabulary retention? With the help of SPSS25.0,a statistical analysis tool,the results are obtained as follows:(1)In English reading,the use of meta-cognitive strategies is wholly at a medium level among senior high school students.In terms of frequency,each sub-strategy is used differently.Selective attention strategies are the most frequently used,followed by monitoring strategies,evaluation strategies and planning strategies.(2)In terms of incidental vocabulary acquisition,meta-cognitive strategies are significantly correlated with receptive vocabulary,and selective attention strategies in meta-cognition show a significantly positive correlation with receptive vocabulary but a negative correlation with productive vocabulary.Although meta-cognitive strategies are uncorrelated with productive vocabulary,evaluation strategies in meta-cognition are significantly correlated with productive vocabulary.(3)In terms of vocabulary retention,the retention of receptive vocabulary is significantly correlated with meta-cognitive strategies,and shows a significantly positive correlation with evaluation strategies in meta-cognition.Although there is no significant correlation between meta-cognitive strategies and the retention of productive vocabulary,selective attention strategies in meta-cognitive show a significantly negative correlation with the retention of productive vocabulary,and monitoring strategies show a significantly positive correlation with it.This study has theoretical and practical significance.In theory,it can verify the Ternary Intelligence Theory,Attention Hypothesis,and it can also provide support for the Input Hypothesis.In practice,it can effectively promote English vocabulary teaching and learning in senior high school,and provide suggestions for meta-cognitive strategies training for senior high school students.