A Study Of English Vocabulary Learning Strategies On Primary School Students

Vocabulary is to English learning what bricks are to a large building.Vocabulary plays a basic role in English study. Vocabulary learning is of vitalimportance for language learning and it directly influences English listening,speaking, reading and writing ability. Many overseas and domestic researcheshave focused on vocabulary learning strategies since1970s and have obtained alarge number of results, however, there are few researches on primary schoolstudents. Full-time Compulsory English curriculum standards presents thegeneral goal of English vocabulary teaching is to acquire good learning habitsand effective learning strategies for pupils.Based on theories of English learning strategies and vocabulary learningstrategies, this thesis explores the subjects’ vocabulary learning beliefs,vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary learning strategies used by high scorestudents and low score students and correlation between vocabulary achievements and vocabulary learning strategies. An empirical research ofvocabulary learning strategies for four months is conducted for146grade6students who are from Shuangxi primary school in Taiyuan, which aims to helpstudents find proper learning strategies and improve vocabulary learningefficiency.Data analysis collected by means of questionnaire, interview, vocabularytests and English tests shows that:(1) the frequency of subjects’ vocabularylearning strategies is relatively low;(2) there exists an obvious gap between highscore students and low score students in the application of vocabulary learningstrategies;(3) there exists a positive correlation between vocabulary learningstrategies and vocabulary achievements;(4) the training of vocabulary learningstrategies can enhance the frequency of vocabulary learning strategies used by thesubjects, and strategies training can help improve subjects’ vocabulary test scoresand English test achievements.In addition, the researcher suggests that teachers can use students-oriented teaching style to develop students’ autonomic learning and combine with multiplelearning strategies simultaneously to improve students’ vocabulary learningability in the class. Meanwhile, due to the limited time and small sample size,some limitations in the study do exist. In the end, the researcher gives somesuggestions for the future studies.