The Study On English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used By Students In No.8 Middle School In Baogang

Vocabulary is one of the three elements of a language. Language learning begins with vocabulary. It plays an important part in language study. In this thesis, it is argued that learning English vocabulary makes great contribution to the learning of grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing, and to the enrichment of English culture knowledge.In English teaching, especially in junior schools, if vocabulary is overemphasized, the problem of "time-consuming and poorly-efficient" English teaching will be solved because qualified learning of the vocabulary of students completely wipe off the biggest obstacle in English learning - vocabulary. The bigger vocabulary students acquire at primary stage of English study, the easier and faster improvement they will get in other aspects of English study in future study. It is easier for teachers to conduct classroom instructions if students have required vocabulary. Emphasis on vocabulary is reasonable and feasible. However, vocabulary study has long been ignored both by students and schools. Teachers think it is impossible and unnecessary to conduct vocabulary teaching and students themselves should be responsible for their increase in vocabulary. Students put it aside because they are not scored according to the size of their vocabulary. This fact causes students to make slow progress in English learning.Based on the classification of the foreign language learning strategies, the vocabulary learning strategies this paper tries to study include beliefs on English vocabulary learning, meta-cognitive strategies,cognitive strategies and social/ affective strategies. According to the factors that influence the use of learning strategies and the facts of English vocabulary teaching and learning in junior school, this research focuses on the following questions:1)What are the general beliefs of vocabulary learning strategies held by junior school students?2)What vocabulary learning strategies are used by the students in their vocabulary learning?3)Are there differences in beliefs and strategies using between the high-score students and the low-score students in heir vocabulary learning?Then the writer used SPSS 13.0 to analyze the data and drew the conclusion : 1 ) The vocabulary learning beliefs"words should be memorized"is more preferable than the belief"words should be learned through context"and"words should be learned through use"among the investigated students. 2) The current situation of using vocabulary learning strategies by those junior school students is not satisfactory, with the mean range of 2.06-3.87 (on a five-point scale), which suggests their use is at the medium level.3) Beliefs and meta-cognitive strategies were different significantly between the high-score and low-score groups. But there are no significant differences in cognitive and social strategies between the two groups. Finally,according to the results of the present study and writer's experience, some suggestions are made.