An Empirical Research On The Relationship Between English Vocabulary Learning Strategies And Breadth Of Vocabulary Knowledge Of Senior High School Students

The New Curriculum Standards requires learners to master at least 4000-4200 words during high school.Since learning strategy is one of the six integrated components of English curriculum content,effectively selecting and using learning strategies will help improve learning efficiency.In order to help high school students achieve a vocabulary of more than4000 words in a limited period of three years,it is necessary to explore in depth the relationship between English vocabulary learning strategies(hereafter referred to as EVLS)and breadth of vocabulary knowledge(hereafter referred to as BVK).Currently,most of the studies take college students as the research objects and adopt a quantitative research method based on questionnaires,focusing on analyzing the co-variation between EVLS and other variables,and less on analyzing the causality between them.Therefore,this research took 255 students in the second year of Peiying Senior High School in Jiangmen city as the research subjects,and used EVLS questionnaires,BVK tests and interviews not only to analyze the correlation between EVLS and BVK,but also to further explore the predictive effect of EVLS on BVK.Based on the “five steps in vocabulary learning” model and the levels of processing theory,this research attempts to answer the following three questions:(1)What are significant differences on the use of EVLS between students in high and low BVK test score groups?(2)Is there a correlation between EVLS and BVK? If so,what is the degree of correlation?(3)To what extent can EVLS predict BVK?The findings reveal that:(1)There are significant differences between high and low score groups on the use of EVLS.Cognitive strategies,resource strategies,meta-cognitive strategies,activation strategies and memory strategies are employed significantly more frequently by the high score group than the low score group,and their mean differences are in decreasing order.(2)Cognitive strategies,meta-cognitive strategies,resource strategies,activation strategies and memory strategies have significant positive correlations with BVK,and their degrees of correlation decrease in sequence.(3)Except activation strategies,cognitive strategies,meta-cognitive strategies,memory strategies and resource strategies significantly and positively predict BVK,and their predictive powers weaken in order.Based on the results of this research,pedagogical implications can be concluded as follows: First,students should be guided to actively use cognitive strategies,meta-cognitive strategies,memory strategies and resource strategies in daily teaching;Second,cognitive strategies should be the focus of EVLS training,especially synonyms and antonyms,context clues and word formation;Third,teachers should conduct training in meta-cognitive strategies and instruct students how to apply monitoring and selective attention;Finally,lexical input should be increased through various means,such as homework exercises,dictionaries,English songs,and outside reading.