An Investigation Of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Of Non-English Major College Students

As the building block of a language, vocabulary learning has gained indefinite concern in English teaching and learning. However, The major past research is often focused on certain aspects, so that no clear overall picture emerges. In reality, however,learners tend to use a variety of strategies in combination. Moreover, in a Chinese context, the vocabulary learning strategies used by Chinese learners learning English as a foreign language (EFL) may be different from those used by western learners. To most of the Chinese undergraduates, learning vocabulary is the main problem met in the process of learning English. Therefore, the thesis aims at exploring vocabulary learning strategies used by Chinese EFL learners. The study is developed from O'Malley&Chamot's framework of learning strategies, in which metacognitive strategies, cognitive strategies and social/affective strategies are included. This study attempts to answer the following questions:1) What is the current state of second-year non-English majors'vocabulary learning strategies?2) What is the correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size?3) What are the differences between high achievers and low achievers in the use of vocabulary learning strategies?Research results largely indicate:1. Among the three major vocabulary learning strategies, cognitive strategy alone has been used at a comparatively higher frequency. Next comes metacognitive strategy. The least utilized one is social/affective strategy.2. All metacognitive vocabulary learning strategies bear fairly noticeable or considerable degrees of correlation with the scores of vocabulary tests. All metacognitive strategies are positively correlated to test scores. The more frequently such cognitive strategies as pronounciation and grouping are utilized, the higher the scores of lexical tests.3. Differences exist between high achievers and low achievers in their application of strategies. High achievers are better skilled than low achievers in applying metacognitive strategy. This shows that repetition strategy is easy to implement, but its effects are constrained by multiple factors such as the level of English proficiency.Finally, by analyzing and discussing the results of the investigation conducted, this paper proposes certain proposals on vocabulary learning and teaching in the hope that it could be of some help to the vocabulary learning and teaching for non-English major sophomores.