A Study On Vocabulary Learning Strategies Of English Postgraduates In Central China Normal University

Vocabulary learning is one critical aspect in the process of language study, which effects the achievement of learners to a large extent. Researchers from home and abroad have investigated vocabulary learning from various perspectives, and previous researches mainly focus on the definition and classification of vocabulary learning strategies, the comparison between different groups of learners and the factors that influence the choice of vocabulary learning strategies in various ELT contexts. However, the author finds out that English postgraduates are neglected by most researchers. Moreover, this target group possesses some distinct characteristics which are not shared by other frequently investigated groups, and the importance of postgraduates is growing increasingly. Thus this paper attempts to investigate English postgraduates from Central China Normal University and to discover what vocabulary learning strategies are applied by them.This study was carried out around three principal questions:the attitudes toward vocabulary learning; frequently applied vocabulary learning strategies of English postgraduates; factors influencing the choice of vocabulary learning strategies. Two instruments are used--questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire is designed on the basis of Oxford’s (1990) classification of vocabulary learning strategies and tries to find out the frequently used ones, while the interview serves as explanation and supplement for the questionnaire.It was found that most English postgraduates agree on the significance of vocabulary learning, but they also admit that the time spent on it decreases in this period. Through the interview, the author discovered that the change of external environment and learners’motivation are mainly responsible for such changes. This finding is in accordance with the results shown by the other two significant research questions in this paper:compensation, memory and affective strategies are often employed by these students, but cognitive, metacognitive and social strategies gain less popularity among them. Generally speaking, English postgraduates tend to learn vocabulary initiatively through making use of their original knowledge reserve and accessible resources, and they are able to flexibly apply memory strategies such as context, association and word-formation method. But they fail to arrange vocabulary learning, to practice and to consolidate new vocabulary as often as they did before. Three factors were found to contribute to these phenomenon--language proficiency, external environment and motivation. Finally, the author presents some suggestions based on the results of this study:teachers of this target group can provide proper instruction and guidance in terms of vocabulary learning; learners themselves are supposed to make a full use of their internal motivation through figuring out their wishful career path and setting up a periodical or long-time target.