A Study Of The Effects Of Elaborative Rehearsal Strategy On Senior High School Students’ English Vocabulary Learning

With the growing importance and the promotion of the English curriculum reform in high schools in China,English educators are faced with the challenge to keep up with the changes introduced by this curriculum reform and make corresponding improvements in vocabulary teaching.Similarly,English learners should also adjust their learning methods according to the situation.Vocabulary learning,in particular,has long been a headache for second language learners.Unfortunately,the traditional method of vocabulary learning has always been based on rote memorization,mainly taking the form of continuous verbal or written repetition.Searching for alternative ways to improve this approach,English educators in China have been attempting to explore efficient and appropriate strategies that can help second language learners remember vocabulary more quickly and accurately.When it comes to vocabulary learning,the elaborative rehearsal strategy is considered to be an effective vocabulary learning technique,by which one can associate new information with previous knowledge and then store it in the long-term memory.Taking into account the predicament of vocabulary learning among senior high school students,the present study aims to carry out an elaborative rehearsal strategy training and to examine its effects on these students’ vocabulary learning.To that end,the study aims to address the following two questions:1.What are the effects of the elaborative rehearsal strategy on senior high school students’ English vocabulary learning?2.After the students are taught the elaborative rehearsal strategy,what are their attitudes towards this kind of technique?This study takes ninety students from two classes of Grade One in a senior high school as the research subjects.Three English vocabulary tests,a five-point Likert scale on English vocabulary learning strategies and semi-structured interviews were conducted as the cardinal research instruments with the comparative experiment lasting for 5 months.In the control class,the traditional English vocabulary teaching method was adopted,that is,the teacher first led the students to read aloud,then explained the meaning of the words to the students,and finally solidified them by means of examples and some corresponding exercises.While in the experimental class,the researcher trained the students in the elaborative rehearsal strategy,then let them use the elaborative rehearsal strategies to store the words freely,and finally carried on the checkouts.The results of the vocabulary tests are analyzed by IBM SPSS 23.According to the results of the first vocabulary test,there is no significant difference between the two classes in terms of their vocabulary achievements(P=.571>.05).The results of the mid-test manifests that there are significant differences between the two classes in word form and word use(Pform=.036,Puse=.007).However,the results of the post-test indicates that there are also significant differences between the two classes with regard to the vocabulary achievements,word form and word use with P value being.002,.003 and.005 respectively.That is to say,the training of the elaborative rehearsal strategy is useful to improve students’ vocabulary achievements,particularly in the word form and word use.Additionally,by way of analyzing the interviews and the scale on vocabulary learning strategy(α=.938),it can be concluded that the use of vocabulary learning strategies is significantly and positively correlated with vocabulary test scores(r=.790,p<.01);Students in the control class prefer maintenance rehearsal strategy,while those in the experimental class tend to use elaborative rehearsal strategy;93%of the students deem that elaborative rehearsal strategy is helpful for their vocabulary learning and they all use this strategy in their routine vocabulary learning.Finally,based upon the analysis of all results,the author of this paper puts forward feasible suggestions on vocabulary strategy learning and teaching.As educators,we should first take the initiative to learn about some vocabulary learning strategies,and then create chances to teach the students about their use.Furthermore,it is necessary for teachers to explain vocabulary knowledge to students in order to enrich their knowledge.After teaching students the strategies,teachers should also supervise and prevent them from being lazy and not sticking to using these strategies.As for the learners,they should take the initiative choosing appropriate strategies according to the actual contexts.As a whole,both teachers and students should use it consistently.In short,vocabulary learning is a process of accumulation.It is important for students to devote time and energy but appropriate strategies can help them get twice the result with half effort.Hence,both educators and learners should pay more attention to the learning of such strategies.