An Investigation Into English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used By Junior Middle School Students

One of the biggest problems English teachers complain about in the practice of the new curriculum criteria is vocabulary. The vocabulary now in the new curriculum doubles than that of the past, raising the difficulty of vocabulary teaching. Vocabulary is the most important component of a language. Researches on vocabulary learning strategies have been carried for nearly 30 years and a lot has been achieved. However, the researches which have been done on vocabulary learning strategies have tended to deal with college students and high school students, with very few studies looking at junior middle school students. In a sense, vocabulary teaching and learning has long been comparatively undervalued in junior middle school English teaching in China.New Criteria for English Courses for General Middle School requires that teachers should help Students develop effective learning strategies. Do students in junior middle use vocabulary learning strategies? If they do, what strategies do they now use in vocabulary learning?Foreign language school has good performance in English proficiency competition and examinations. Do students in foreign language school use different strategies in their vocabulary learning? To answer these questions, an investigation of English vocabulary learning strategy was carried in two junior middle schools. 400 questionnaires were cast in the schools, and a data statistic software named SPSS was employed. From data analysis and comparison, the thesis arrives at the following conclusions:...