Correlation Between English Vocabulary Learning Strategies And English Achievements Of Junior High School Students

Effective learning of English vocabulary has become a big concer for most English learners. In recent yers, many linguists have done a series of studies on English vocabulary learning strategies. They have achieved a lot of fruitful results. Most of the studies aimed at college, while relatively few concerned with junior high school students. The study on English vocabulary learning strategies of junior high school students is based on Schmitt's(1997) classification of vocabulry learning strategies. A vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire consisting sixty questions is the basic instrument in the study. The subjects of the present study are 102 junior high school students from Zhejiang Province. According to Schmitt's(1997) classification of language learning strategies,the study tries to dicuss the three questions:1. How do English vocabulary learning strategies use among junior high school students? 2. What relations do English vocabulary learning strategies have with English achievements? 3. If there are high-level students and low-level students,are there any differences between high-level students and low-level students in their use of English vocabulary learning strategies?And organize the theory related to vocabulary learning strategies and the achievements at home and abroad. The data are analyzed with the help of SPSS 13.0 and the conclusions are made from the study as follow:1. The level of vocabulary strategy use by sampled students is only medium, averaging 2.43.The level of discovery strategies is medium frequency, averaging 2.53 and consolidation strategies is between medium frequency and low frequency, averaging 2.40.2. Among the five categories investigated, the level of determination strategies and cognitive strategies is medium frequency.Social strategies, memory strategies and meta cognitive strategies is low frequency. Determination strategies are.the most frequently used and meta cognitive strategies are the least frequently used.3. All of the vocabulry learning strategies are significantly correlated to English achievements.34 of 60 are significantly positively correlated to English achievements.5 of 60 are correlated.2 of 60 are negatively correlated.19 of 60 are no significant differences between vocabulary learning strategies and English achievements.4. High-level students and low-level students are found to be significantly different in their use of vocabulry learning strategies. High-level students use more vocabulary learning strategies than low-level students.5. There exists significant difference in the five categories between high-level students and low-level students. Determination strategies have the greatest mean difference, followed by meta cognitive strategies, memory strategies, social strategies and cognitive strategies.In the end, based on the research findings, questions for future researches are proposed. It's necessary for teachers to encourage students to experiment with various strategies so as to broaden their repertoire of vocabulary learning strategies. The learners-centered strategy instructions should be incorporated into curriculum design to raise students'awareness towards their use of vocabulary learning strategies and to facilitate the efficacy of language learning.