Effects Of Social-affective Strategy Training On English Vocabulary Learning

Along with the ever increasing development of the reform and open policy, it attaches more importance to English, which serves as the bridge between Chinese and western cultures. Hence, English learning gets more attention in recent years and English learning strategies become one of the researchers’studying focuses. In the field of learning strategies, cognitive strategies and metacognitive strategies have always been the hotspots among researchers at home and abroad, however, few researches and applications on social-affective strategies are conducted. The present study aims to analyze the effects of social-affective strategy training on English learning and provide suggestions for the application of social-affective strategies in English classes even in other subject classes as well.With respect to the various aspects of English learning, social-affective strategy training can be dealt with in terms of vocabulary, speaking, reading, writing and other aspects. As for the different research focuses, researchers can carry out studies on the significance and models of social-affective strategy training or on the relationship between social-affective strategy use and learners’English proficiency. Based on the previous studies, the present study chooses the relationship between social-affective strategy training and vocabulary learning as its focus, and analyzes the effects of social-affective strategy training on vocabulary learning based on zone of proximal development theory.The present study adopts a quantitative approach in order to investigate the effects of social-affective strategy training on vocabulary learning. The participants investigated in this study are90students who learn English as a foreign language. Questionnaires and vocabulary tests are used to collect research data. After analyzing the collecting data, the present study arrives at the following conclusions:1) social-affective strategy training can strengthen learners’awareness of social-affective strategy use;2) social-affective strategy training can expand learners’vocabulary size;3) different types of social-affective strategies are not equally sensitive to strategy training:cultural background learning strategy is more sensitive to strategy training than the other types of strategies;4) while among the different types of learners in the present study, lower-level participants are more sensitive learners to strategy training. But the most effective social-affective strategies for different types of learners still need further research.Based on the findings and zone of proximal development theory, some suggestions on vocabulary teaching and learning are proposed in the present study, such as activating zone of proximal development, adopting scaffolding instruction and dynamic assessment, strengthening interaction and conducting targeted strategy training.