A Study Of High School Students' Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Based on the second language learning strategies of meta-cognitive strategy, cognitive strategy and social affective strategy, this paper analyses and probes some of the problems that arise in the vocabulary learning process of high school students. The survey was carried out in the form of a questionnaire. The purpose of this paper is to improve the students' vocabulary learning effects, help them form good learning habits; hence cultivate a life long learning ability.Learning strategies are important factors influencing the effect of learning. Since the middle of last century, researchers have turned to a learner-based study strategy to aim at helping the students master certain learning strategies and vocabulary learning strategies. There are different definitions of language learning strategy and vocabulary learning strategy. In this paper, vocabulary learning strategy is classified as social affective strategy, cognitive strategy, metacognitive strategy and memory strategy. Since memory strategy penetrates all the strategies above, so it is not illustrated individually.The questionnaire reveals the following main problems in high school students' vocabulary learning. 1. Learners don't pay due attention to pronunciation, and rules of spelling. 2. Learners pay more attention to surface meaning than deep meaning. 3. Mechanical memory and inadequate revision. 4. Vocabulary learning strategies are in contradiction to conception.In order to make the students master some relative vocabulary learning strategies and improve their vocabulary study efficiency, the author of this paper applied some vocabulary learning strategies to students in class. First of all, train the students to know something about social affective strategy, and the purpose is to get the students to have a clear study motivation, also to cooperate and communicate with each other; after the students are motivated to study, they can come to master some metacognitive learning strategies and improve their metacognitive consciousness. To achieve their study goals, making study plans, self supervision and self evaluation are emphasized. At last, make the students come to master some cognitive strategies and apply them in vocabulary learning.The author of this paper designed two questionnaires and two tests about vocabulary knowledge(pre-test and post-test) to test the efficiency of vocabulary study, scientifically. The data of the case indicates the vocabulary amount, vocabulary knowledge use and vocabulary learning strategies are greatly improved, especially making study plans, self-supervision and self-evaluation. The study of this case is successful. The author of this paper, however, also realized that there is a long way to go about cognitive strategy; the reasons are shortage of free study time in high school and inadequate relative exercises, so more time and efforts should be spent improving the vocabulary learning strategies of the students in high school in the future.