An Investigation Of Vocabulary Learning Strategies And Problems For Non-English Major Students

Vocabulary plays a very important role in English learning. The present thesis investigates main types of Vocabulary Learning Strategies adopted by Non-English major students and the problems of vocabulary learning in English classroom. 108 freshmen from a university in Jiangxi Province participated the investigation.The questionnaire adopted in the present study is designed on the basis of the framework of O'Malley and Chamot (1990) with reference to those of Stoffer (1995), Schmitt (1997) , Oxford (1990), Nation (2001),Gu and Johnson (1996) respectively. A Vocabulary Level Test was administered by using Nation's (1990) Vocabulary Level Test in the college level. In addition, a comparison study on what Vocabulary supplemental exercises should offer between High-achievers and Low-achievers is conducted via Independent-Sample Test.The statistical software SPSS 12.0 for Windows is used to analyze the data.The findings of the present study are the followings: (1)The majority of the students hold positive attitudes to vocabulary learning;(2) Most students adopt at least one strategy in their vocabulary learning processes. Nevertheless, the overall frequency of vocabulary learning strategies is not as high as expected. Among them, the most commonly used ones include the strategies such as dictionary consultancy, rote-memory, note-taking, and sample sentence; (3) In spite that a majority of the respondents highlight the importance of context in the target vocabulary learning process, most students more usually memorize words through decontextualized approaches such as rote repetition than elaboration strategies; (4) The survey results reveal the top three types of most difficulty words to learn: (a) Technical terms (such as technology, medicine, or law); (b) Word forms; and (c) No equivalents in Chinese; (5) Due to the limited class time, teachers spend less time on vocabulary learning and practices;(6) A majority of the respondents suggest the following information will be helpful in designing vocabulary supplemental exercises (a)Sample sentences;(b) Explanations on how to use new vocabularies; (c) Errors that peers often make; and (d) Explanations on affixes and word roots; (7) A majority of the respondents hold a positive attitude towards E-learning assistance in vocabulary learning process.The present study also explored the design of the supplemental vocabulary exercises on how to better facilitate the target vocabulary learning process.The study has implications for vocabulary learning and teaching practice, and provides some recommendations for future studies on the basis of the limitation of the present study.