Effect Of Learning Strategy On Vocabulary Acquisition By EFL College Students In China

The present thesis aims at exploring the effect of learning strategies on vocabulary learning by male and female non-English majors in China. For most language learners, vocabulary may be the biggest stumbling block in their language study. Although vocabulary is an important element of language system, vocabulary learning has not been paid enough attention in the process of linguistic development. Only since the 1980s, were vocabulary and vocabulary learning paid more and more heed.The study of learning strategy also started in the 1980s. Initially, learning strategy study aimed at exploring some traits of excellent language learners. Later, the researchers found that learning strategies can be taught to low-achieving learners to improve their language results.It has always been said that females are suitable to learn languages than males. But in the linguistic area, most of the scholars are males. In the thesis, the author tries to explore the learning strategy differences between male and female learners and strategies that have a high or marked correlation with students' vocabulary learning, hopefully to give some constructive suggestions to language teaching and learning.The essence of the thesis is to test the hypotheses that learning strategies have an effect on the vocabulary learning process and male and female learners. Different strategies may have different degree of association with students' vocabulary learning. According to the results of one vocabulary test, the author divided the learners into two groups with 36 male subjects in one group and 36 female subjects in the other group. After the vocabulary test, the author administered one questionnaire on learning strategies to see whether male and female students vary in their strategy uses. The author also tried to find out whether different strategies have different degree of association with students' vocabulary learning.As a result, we found out that male and female subjects showed some differences in choosing learning strategies in the vocabulary learning process. Female subjects are more attentive in language class and follow the language examples in authenticmaterials. While male subjects are more likely to acquire vocabulary knowledge from mass media, such as magazines, newspaper, and films or the channels they are interested in. A t-test is done, but the result turned out to be statistically insignificant.Correlation coefficients of all the 59 strategies were calculated to see whether they have a high or marked correlation with male and female students' vocabulary learning. Most strategies in the questionnaire are not closely associated with the subjects' vocabulary proficiency. This does not necessarily deny the significance of these strategies. They may work for some subjects but fail to influence the others. What deserves our attention here is that all the dictionary strategies listed in the questionnaire do not prove to have a high or marked correlation with students' vocabulary learning proficiency.In a word, male and female subjects show both similarities and differences in their vocabulary learning process. But we are not safe to say their choice of vocabulary learning strategies differ.