A Study On The Correlation Between Junior High School Students’ Self-regulatory Ability In English Vocabulary Learning And Academic Achievement

The studies on learning strategies have been undergoing the shift from focusing on learning outcomes to exploring differences in the use of learning strategies among good learners.In recent years,researchers have shifted their attention to the self-regulating learning process and the learners themselves.Studies show that self-regulation plays an important part in learners’ learning effect.Vocabulary is the basis of language learning.However,the present middle school English vocabulary teaching is still under the teacher-centered “instilling in class and strengthening after class” mode,the students are prohibited from exerting self-consciousness and subjective initiative.Thus,a burning question,the “inefficient”vocabulary teaching problem arises in middle school English teaching.Therefore,based on the theory of action control,system of self-regulatory strategies and a social cognitive view of self-regulating learning,this study selected 552 full-time junior high school students from a middle school in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as the subjects,and used the Self-regulating Capacity in Vocabulary Learning Scale(SRCvoc scale)developed by Tseng et al and junior high school’s English test papers to study the self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning of Chinese middle school students.It mainly probes into four issues:1)What are the characteristics of junior high school students’ self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning? 2)What are the differences of students’ self-regulatory ability in vocabulary learning among the different learning levels? 3)What are the differences of students’ self-regulatory ability in vocabulary learning between junior one and junior two? 4)What is the relationship between junior high school students’ self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning and their academic achievements?All data were analyzed by SPSS 23.0.The major findings of this study are as follows: 1)Generally junior middle school students have a moderate level of self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning,with a display of strongest environmental control ability and the weakest emotional control ability;2)There is a significant difference in the self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning among the different learning levels;3)There is a significant difference in self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning between different grades of students,that is,the junior one has a better and more stable self-regulatory ability in English vocabulary learning;4)Except writing scores,in English vocabulary learning,there are significant positive correlations between reading scores,listening scores,English scores of junior high school students and their self-regulatory ability and dimensions.In order to improve junior high school students’ English vocabulary learning,this study proposes the following suggestions: 1)Teachers pay attention to students’ emotional changes in vocabulary teaching and teach emotional regulating strategies,update teaching concepts,innovate vocabulary teaching methods,and guide students to establish appropriate learning goals and inspire their initiative in learning;2)Students can try a variety of vocabulary learning self-regulating methods,increase the extra fun of vocabulary learning,maintain interest in vocabulary learning and improve English learning results.