Research On The High School English Vocabulary Learning Strategies

The field of learning strategies has been very active in recent years for the wide recognition among researchers of the role of the learners' autonomy in language learning. Interest in vocabulary has also been revived for the increased importance attached to vocabulary as a component of language, and much research has been done in the this field . Many researchers in the world have made great program. Their common purpose is to know which strategies are better for the vocabulary study in order to provide efficient evidence for the whole language study. However, most of the previous related studies were conducted among the western learners, few dealing with the Chinese learners, who constitute most of the foreign language learners in the world. In China, the previous related studies especially the vocabulary study are limited in college students, fewer researches found on middle school students. What's more, students find it rather difficult to learn English vocabulary and feel heavy mental pressure in it. At the same time, about 3000 words and 400-500 phrases should be mastered if they want to take part in the entrance examination to colleges or universities.Based on such a background, this study is conducted to find out the vocabulary learning strategies employed by Chinese common senior middle school students so as to enhance their English learning competence and to improve its quality fully as well.The research mainly employs the questionnaire method. The questionnaire resulted O'Malley and Chamof s system consists of four parts. Part One is instruction in which two points are especially made clear to the respondents; Part Two aims to get some personal information of the subjects, such as school , sex and grades; Part Three contains 3 statements of beliefs and 37 strategies to which subjects are expected to respond anonymously; Part Four is 4 questions which are related to the students' vocabulary learning. And the study was carried out in November ,2002, in four areas of Shandong Province.Data are collected and processed by means of SPSS. The main findings of the research are as follows:I.Chinese common middle school students employed a variety of vocabulary learning strategies ranging from metacognitive to cognitive strategies, but the overall level of learning strategies in English vocabulary is lower.2. Significant gender difference is shown in Metacognitive Strategies and Social Affective Strategies.3. Significant grade difference is also shown and the growing tendency with the rising grade is found in the level of learning strategies, especially the Metacognitive Strategies, in English vocabulary learning, employed by senior middle school students.4. Significant difference is shown in the usage level between good and language Learners and the poor language learners.5. As far as the major sources of the subjects' vocabulary learning strategies are concerned, teachers' introductions and guidance constitute is the primary source to the 3 grades, and self trial is the second, whose proportion is rising as the grades go up.6. Lack of efficient vocabulary learning strategies is the most problem that the students are facing in the vocabulary learning.In the last part of this thesis, some suggestions have been proposed on the basic training principles of English vocabulary learning strategies and the training methods based on the findings of the research. And the author think that in order to learn more English words and phrases, the students should both use a variety of strategies and put their hearts into learning them. At the same time, the English teachers ought to change their educational notions and train their students' learning strategies consciously in class.