Vocabulary Learning Strategies And Vocabulary Knowledge: A Study Of Chinese Non-English Majors

Vocabulary learning strategy is a hot issue in the study of L2 acquisition, into which a lot of studies have been conducted abroad and in China. The studies mainly focus on the classifications of VLS, the description of strategies used by particular groups of learners or the effectiveness of particular strategies and so on. However, the studies abroad cannot describe the true situation as to how Chinese students use VLS in their learning. Meanwhile, the results of many studies in China are not in agreement with each other owing to different objectives, participants, methodologies, and classifications of VLS. In addition, most studies investigating the effectiveness of particular strategies center on breadth of vocabulary knowledge but neglect the other important aspect—depth of vocabulary knowledge.The present paper attempts to investigate the overall pattern of English vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies used by some Chinese non-English major students, and further investigate the correlation between students' vocabulary learning beliefs, vocabulary learning strategies, and the scores on a vocabulary size (VS) test and an in-depth vocabulary knowledge (DVK) test. Three instruments are used to gather data for this study: Nation's Vocabulary Levels Test (1990), Read's Word Association Format (1998), and a questionnaire on VLS adapted from Gu and Johnson's (1996). The questionnaires and the two tests are administered to college students majoring in science from Shandon University of Technology. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis are conducted to analyze the data collected. The results of this study show that:Firstly, most learners hold the belief that words should be learned in context and use while the belief that words should be memorized is not popular. Most students believe that learners should not only make efforts to enlarge their vocabulary size but also pay sufficient attention to various aspects of vocabulary knowledge. The learning beliefs that the learners hold do have influence on their achievement in vocabulary learning.Secondly, students employ a wide range of VLS in their foreign language learning at metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective levels, but the frequency of overall VLS use is not high. In terms of the three categories of VLS, the most frequently used one is cognitive strategy, and the least frequently used one is social/affective strategy, with metacognitive strategy in between. Among the fifteen specific strategies, the frequently used ones are association strategies, guessing strategies, contextualization strategies, dictionary use strategies, affective strategies, selective attention strategies, plan making & implementing strategies and repetition strategies. The occasionally used ones are word formation strategies, note-taking strategies, imagery strategies, grouping strategies, learner autonomy strategies, social strategies, and reviewing & testing strategies.The students' strategy use is generally the result of their previous learning experience, the influence of their teachers' teaching methods, the traditional Chinese culture, the oriental students' characters and the specific learning environment in China. Firstly, they are more likely to use strategies that they are familiar with or their teachers often employ in class. Secondly, students do not like to use complicated strategies or strategies that demand great effort. Thirdly, they prefer to learn independently rather than cooperate with other people. Finally, they have more awareness about developing self-confidence, self-encouragement, and reducing anxiety when they encounter difficulties.Finally, the results indicate that most strategies are significantly correlated with the VS and DVK scores. At metacognitive level, plan making & plan implementing strategies, learner autonomy strategies, and reviewing & testing strategies have significant positive correlation with the two scores. Selective attention strategies have significant positive correlation with the DVK scores. At cognitive level, guessing strategies and note-taking strategies have significant positive relation with both the scores on VS and DVK tests. Dictionary use strategies have significant positive correlation with the DVK scores. Among the memory strategies, association strategies and contextualization strategies have significant positive relation with both the VS scores and DVK scores but repetition strategies are negatively related with the two scores. Word formation strategies and grouping strategies have significant positive correlation with the VS scores. Imagery strategies have significant positive correlation with the DVK scores. At social/affective level, affective strategies are positively correlated with both scores significantly. The present study provides some tentative implications for English vocabulary learning and teaching. The students will be clear about the situation of their strategy use; the correlation between vocabulary learning beliefs, strategy use and their actual achievement on VS and DVK tests, so that they can make some adjustment consciously to facilitate their future vocabulary learning. Meanwhile, the teachers may also get some useful information from this paper so that they can give their students more effective help and guidance. When teachers conduct strategy training, they should place more emphasis on the strategies that are positively correlated with vocabulary acquisition but students seldom employ, for example, reviewing &testing strategies and learner autonomy strategies at metacognitive level, word formation strategies, grouping strategies, note-taking strategies and imagery strategies at cognitive level, and social strategies at social/affective level.In the end of the essay, the author points out the limitations of the present study and provides some tentative suggestions for future research.