The Effect Of Vocabulary Learning Strategy Training On Junior Middle School Students’ Vocabulary Learning

The study explores the effect of English vocabulary learning strategy training on JuniorMiddle School students’ vocabulary learning. As an important part of language, vocabulary isthe basis of all language skills. In general, the vocabulary acquired by students is also one ofthe reflections of their English proficiency. Since knowledge on grammar is relatively small atthe beginning of Junior Middle School stage, vocabulary size is an important sign to measurethe level of English performance. The volume of vocabulary directly influences Englishlistening, speaking, reading and writing.Although vocabulary learning strategy is a very important research topic in Englishacquisition and has received wide attention among researchers, there are very few studiesinvestigating its effect on Junior Middle School students’ vocabulary learning. The thesis willhopefully help to understand vocabulary learning strategies much better. Secondly, the thesiswill provide enlightenment for English teaching and learning. On one hand, teachers shouldknow about students’ vocabulary use so that they can conduct strategy training to helpimprove students’ vocabulary learning. On the other hand, students should learn to usevocabulary learning strategies consciously and flexibly to improve their vocabulary learningability.This research aims to answer the following questions through a vocabulary learningstrategy training experiment for Junior Middle School students:(1) Can vocabulary strategytraining enhance students ’awareness of strategy use?(2) Can vocabulary strategy trainingraise students ’vocabulary learning efficiency?In September,2011,132Junior Middle School students of Grade Seven from XuchangNo.12Middle School joined in the study, and116of them are valid subjects. The132 students come from Class5and Class6. Class5is control group, and Class6is experimentalgroup. The two groups accepted pre-test before strategy training separately. Questionnaire ofVocabulary Learning Strategies and vocabulary test were selected to evaluate subjects’vocabulary learning strategy use and vocabulary competence. The questionnaire is VocabularyStrategy Questionnaire for Junior Middle School Students designed by Songhao, Li (2003)in the light of educational psychometric tests of the standard method. Then the experimentalgroup received a-14-week vocabulary learning strategy training. After the training, post-testof vocabulary test was carried out. Statistical analysis will be conducted by SPSS.This study answers the questions raised in the beginning of this article, and concludes asfollows:(1) Vocabulary learning strategy training can enhance students’ awareness of strategyuse. Through training, most subjects participating in the experiment realize that the strategiescan help improve their vocabulary learning and improve their vocabulary learning effect. Butnot every student has the same level of awareness of strategy use.(2) Vocabulary learningstrategy training can help to improve the academic performance of students’ vocabulary.Finally，some limitations and suggestions are brought forth based on the results of thestudy.