The Empirical Study On English Intentional Vocabulary Learning

Since the birth of modern linguistics, linguists have been paying attention to syntax. In the 1970s, as Second Language Acquisition (SLA) came into being as an independent science, a large number of researchers showed enormous interest in how second language was acquired. In the past twenty years, more and more researchers and teachers began to realize the importance of vocabulary acquisition. Scholars home and abroad have done quite a few researches on vocabulary learning and its strategy. However, their studies focus on theoretical research. Furthermore the input hypothesis is widely acknowledged by western scholars that most vocabulary items are acquired incidentally and incidental learning is and should be the major method in vocabulary acquisition. As to the question whether second language (L2) vocabulary is gained through intentional or incidental learning, researchers hold different views on this.Therefore, this thesis is a survey to the vocabulary learning modes of the sophomore non-English majors at a university in Hunan Province under the classroom setting. It aims to find out the main vocabulary learning mode used by these non-English majors. The research questions in this thesis are: (1) is intentional vocabulary learning the main mode for the sophomore non-English majors in English vocabulary acquisition? (2) Which mode can achieve higher efficiency in English vocabulary acquisition for the sophomore non-English majors, intentional vocabulary learning or incidental vocabulary learning? (3) Which learning mode can retain the vocabulary longer? The subjects are 60 sophomore non-English majors in a university in Hunan Province. The research instruments are vocabulary learning mode questionnaire and vocabulary tests. The description of the results is given as follows: (1) Incidental vocabulary acquisition is not the main mode of the subjects. Indeed, intentional learning is used more frequently by the subjects than incidental learning. (2) According to the figures of the tests, intentional learning can achieve higher efficiency than incidental learning. (3) In the test of vocabulary maintaining, intentional learning shows greater advantage in retaining the vocabulary.Based on the results, pedagogical implications are proposed. English learners especially...