A Study Of Vocabulary Learning Strategies For Non-English Majors Based On Constructivist Learning Theories

Strategies are one of the most important factors to influence vocabulary learning achievements. The current study is to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies learners apply, and then to analyze their functions based on such constructivist theories as Piaget's Constructivist Views, Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, Bruner's Discovery Learning, Kelly's Personal Construction and the social constructivist model. Linguistic theories mainly concern Semantic Field Theory and Mental Lexicon Theory. As to the language learning strategies, O'Malley and Chamot's model is applied as the framework to the research analysis. Two instruments are applied to attain the data, namely, the Vocabulary Size Test and the Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire. Participating in the study are 118 non-English majors of Grade 2004 from four schools of Shandong University: the School of History and Culture, the School of Information Science and Engineering, the School of Management and the School of Literature and Journalism. Satisfactory results are obtained concerning students' vocabulary size. The questionnaire is applied to obtain such information as demographic, concept to strategies, frequency of strategy application, and functions of vocabulary learning strategies.The study involves a lot of work, yet some findings that have come out of it seem to be enlightening: most learners have a vocabulary large enough to arrive at the requirement of New College English Curriculum; demographic information has little influence on students' vocabulary learning; students' application of metacognitive strategies is not as satisfactory as has been expected; the depth of processing affects vocabulary learning achievements, in that association strategies are more powerful than mechanical ones; context strategies and word-component-analysis strategies contribute a lot to vocabulary learning while learners need more instruction in dictionary use; group work is not a preferable solution of vocabulary acquisition and use.Vocabulary learning is a long and conscious process, and there is evidence that strategies can develop by themselves. However, it takes time and sufficient exposure to communicative situations. For EFL learners who have restricted linguistic resources, therefore, it seems quite...