A Study On English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Of Non-English-Major Freshmen

In recent years, it is increasingly recognized that the mastery of vocabulary is an essential component of second language and foreign language learning. Appreciation of the importance of vocabulary has led to considerable research in vocabulary learning and teaching abroad and in China. However, few studies in vocabulary learning strategies have been made for non-English-major freshmen at ordinary normal universities. These freshmen are accessible to much more vocabulary than those in high school, they have to adjust themselves to college vocabulary learning as soon as possible. So it is necessary to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies employed by the non-English-major freshmen.115 first-year non-English majors from 4 classes at Linyi Normal University responded to a Questionnaire on vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies. The questionnaire is mainly based on O'Malley and Chamot's (1990) classification of learning strategies, with reference to Gu and Johnson's (1996) strategies. On the basis of the Depth of Processing Hypothesis (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) and Anderson's Information Processing Theory (1983), this study uses a quantitative approach to investigate vocabulary learning strategies used by non-English-major freshmen, exploring three research questions: (1) the overall pattern of non-English-major freshmen's vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies in the Chinese EFL situation; (2) the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary learning achievement; (3) the differences between high achievers and low achievers in the use of vocabulary learning strategies.The following three major findings come from the study. First, the overall frequency of vocabulary learning strategies is not high, just at the medium level. Among the three broad categories of VLS, cognitive strategy is most frequently used while the social/affective strategy is least frequently used and the frequency of metacognitive strategy falls in between. Among the subcategories of VLS, dictionary strategy, note-taking strategy and rote repetition are used at the highest level of frequency. The students use the following categories of strategies at the medium level of frequency: metacognitive strategies, contextualization, grouping strategies. The students use social strategies and key-word strategy at the lowest level of frequency.Second, the correlation analysis shows that there are a range of strategies in correlation with vocabulary learning. Metacognitive strategies and self-encouragement strategies, dictionary use, note-taking strategies, activation strategies, contextualization, association and word list strategies are all positively correlated with learning achievement. Social strategies, guessing strategies and rote learning strategies have no correlation with the achievement.Third, there are many differences between high and low achievers in using VLS. High achievers do better in the use of metacognitive strategies, Among cognitive strategies, high achievers use more contextualization, activation, association, note-taking and dictionary strategies while low achievers use rehearsal and guessing strategies more frequently. Successful learners show active involvement in vocabulary learning, they process the information of the words more deeply than low achievers.Finally, after the discussion of the results, some helpful suggestions about vocabulary learning strategies are put forward in the hope of helping Chinese non-English-major freshmen to improve English study.