A Study On In-depth Vocabulary Knowledge And Vocabulary Learning Strategies Of Chinese EFL Learners

Based on vocabulary knowledge framework put forward by Richards and Nation,the classification of learning strategies posed by O'Malley & Chamot, and the testformat of Read, this study investigates into the state of Chinese EFL learners'vocabulary knowledge acquisition and their vocabulary learning strategy use,attempting to get insight into their in-depth vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary learningstrategies and the correlations between vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary learningstrategies.212 college students of non-English major took part in the investigation byfinishing a test paper that, including 40 commonly used adjectives as tested words, wasadapted from John Read's format, and a questionnaire with reference to Gu andJohnson's. After the data were collected, processed and analyzed by SPSS, thefollowing findings were obtained:1. Generally speaking, the subjects acquire only about the half of vocabularyknowledge; there is an obvious gap in vocabulary knowledge acquisition between goodlearners and poor learners; and different types of word knowledge significantly correlateto each other, the most significant correlation is the pair between synonym andantonym.2. The subjects hold positive view of vocabulary learning and do not muchconsider vocabulary learning as mechanical the task deriving no pleasure; they areaware of in-depth vocabulary knowledge acquisition; they value active approaches tolearning and consolidating vocabulary knowledge. Generally, they employ a variety ofvocabulary learning strategies at metacognitive, cognitive, and social/affective levels.The most used ones are planning strategies, and self-managing strategies, andassociation strategies. The least used ones are reviewing & testing strategies, learningautonomy, and social strategies.3. Vocabulary knowledge correlates to various vocabulary learning strategies todifferent degrees except to social strategies, the most significant correlation is betweenword knowledge and association strategy.Finally, on the basis of the findings, suggestions on how to improve vocabularyknowledge of commonly used words through teaching and learning, and on how tocultivate effective vocabulary knowledge learning strategies are presented.