A Study On Vocabulary Learning Strategies Of Students In Wuhan Middle School

Vocabulary plays a very important part in language learning. As famous linguist M. McCarthy (1984) has put it like this:"People still could not communicate with others no matter how good his grammar is, how beautiful his voice is if he does not have enough vocabulary to express his feelings or to understand others’opinions and thoughts." It is commonly believed that a language learner’s vocabulary level can be an indication of his comprehensive language level.This research aims to study the general vocabulary learning beliefs of middle school students, the overall pattern of junior high school students’vocabulary learning strategies and the differences in using vocabulary learning strategies between successful language learners and less successful language learners. In the process of doing the research, the author collects113questionnaires and invited20students to conduct an interview separately. The students are in Grade8, who are from three classes in Wuhan Middle School.The results of the study show that the overall levels of the surveyed students’ vocabulary learning strategies are relatively low. Most of them are inclined to use some monotonous and simple cognitive strategies. According to the result, the five most frequently used vocabulary learning strategies are using word list, using dictionary, using verbal repetition, association with Chinese and exposure to English media. And the five least frequently used vocabulary learning strategies are writing letters in English with newly learned words, making English sentences with newly learned words, making vocabulary learning plans, turning to teacher or classmates for help and learning vocabulary through online games.And successful language learners tend to use more vocabulary learning strategies and they can use vocabulary learning strategies more efficiently than less successful language learners. Compared with less successful language learners, successful language learners tend to be more active in the process of vocabulary learning, and they are apt to use more complex strategies such as grouping, contextualization and guessing strategies, self initiation and selective attention.Finally, the study suggests that in English teaching process, teachers should emphasize more on changing students’vocabulary learning belief and manage to raise the students’awareness of using those three categories of vocabulary learning strategies effectively.