Research Into The English Vocabulary Learning Strategies For Students In High Schools

Learning strategies are one of the key factors affecting the students' learning efficiency. In 1956, the famous American cognitive psychologist Bruner started systematic studies on learning strategies. Since the 1970s, the Second Language Acquisition study began to focus on how the students learn as apposed to how the teachers teach. The new National Curriculum Standards for the English Language Teaching points out that learning strategies are one part of the general goal of English teaching and learning at the fundamental educational stage. Currently, the twenty-first century witnesses these rapid changes in knowledge. To some extent, 'Learning to learn' means 'learning to survive'. Having the capacity to use numerous kinds of strategies in the learning activities is the main focus of 'learning to learn'.The present research attempts to explore the overall pattern of English vocabulary learning strategies used by some junior high students. In addition, the similarieties and differences in English vocabulary strategies in use between boys and girls, different grades, the successful learners and less successful learners are explored as well. Still, the associations between English vocabulary strategies and the amount of vocabulary are also explored. There is a follow-up study about the variation of the strategies of Class 10 after half a year's studying in the senior high. A questionnaire, adapted from Gu and Hu (2003), was administered to 602 junior high students in one school. Students' vocabulary learning strategies are investigated at metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective levels. They also have two vocabulary tests. Professor Ma Guanghui, from Nanjing Normal University, offers the high 'frequency vocabulary test paper. The other paper, which is on the textbooks, is constucted by the writer after Professor Ma' s model. By using SPSS, the analyses of the data reveal: (1) Junior high students apply metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies more often than social/affective strategies. (2) Girls use the strategies a little more frequently than boys, but only in 6 strategies, which occupy 25% of all the strategies. (3) The first-year students in junior high use strategies more frequently than the second-year and third-year students. Differences exist between Grade One and Grade Two, and Grade One and Grade Three. Not many differences exist between Grade Two and Three. (4) The more successful learners in junior high use the strategies more often than less successful learners. There is not much difference between the two groups in the first year, but the observation is obvious in the third year and the most noticeable in the second year. (5) Of all the vocabulary learning strategies, 6 strategies turn out to be positively correlated with both of the vocabulary sizes. Another 5 strategies are positively correlated with high frequency vocabulary size, but not with the textbook vocabulary size. The visual repetition approach is found to be negatively related to both vocabulary sizes. (6) Students in Class 10 greatly enlarged the vocabulary after half a year's study in senior, but that doesn't have much to do with the learning strategies. Students learn more autonomously but they cooperate less.Finally, the pedagogical implications of the research are suggested; the limitations of the current study are mentioned in the hope of throwing some insights for further studies.