A Correlational Study Between Vocabulary Learning Motivation And Strategies Of Chinese University EFL Students

The aim of the thesis is to detect the correlations between vocabulary learning motivation (VLM) and vocabulary learning strategies (VLS), and tries to answer the six research questions. 308 non-English majors at Southwest Jiaotong University took a questionnaire survey on VLM and VLS. 12 cases were invalid and the final sample size was 296. 140 second-year subjects participated in vocabulary tests and English foreign language proficiency (EFLP) measures additionally. Descriptive statistics, factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression and t-test were employed to analyze the data.The results indicate that (1) all the types of VLM are positively correlated with categories of VLS, of which score, intrinsic interest and communication motivation are good predictors of VLS; self-development, intrinsic interest, information, communication and responsibility motivation are more closely correlated with metacognitive, deep cognitive and social / affective strategies from which university students can benefit more whereas score and situation motivation are more closely correlated with shallow cognitive strategies, (2) motivational antecedents, attitude, self-efficacy and valence are closely correlated with VLS, of which self-efficacy has more profound effect on VLS, and the subjects with controllable attribution, high levels of self-efficacy or valence seem to employ more metacognitive and deep cognitive strategies compared with other VLS, (3) motivational behavior is closely correlated with VLS: the harder the subjects work, the more frequently they employ VLS and the hard-working subjects attempt to employ more metacognitive and deep cognitive strategies whereas the ones who lack effort and persistence tend to use more shallow cognitive strategies compared with other VLS, (4) the total variation of VLM is closely correlated with VLS, (5) both VLM and VLS had direct effect on vocabulary size (VS) and EFLP, moreover, VLM' s effect on EFLP and VS could be found indirectly through its effect on VLS.Therefore, in vocabulary teaching or learning practice, after being recommended to a number of VLS that are more suitable for advanced learners, university students should be motivated to choose flexibly and appropriately by themselves and be accustomed to using the combinations of them.