A Comparative Study Of EGP And ESP Vocabulary Learning Strategy By Vocational College Students

This thesis aims to make a comparative study of EGP and ESP vocabulary learning strategy by vocational college students. Specifically, this study is conducted to answer the following three questions:(1) What EGP and ESP vocabulary learning strategies are used respectively by vocational college students? Is there any difference in strategy use for EGP and ESP vocabulary learning?(2) What vocabulary learning strategies are used for EGP and ESP vocabulary learning by successful learners? Is there any difference in EGP and ESP vocabulary learning strategy use by them?(3) What vocabulary learning strategies are used for EGP and ESP vocabulary learning by unsuccessful learners? Is there any difference in EGP and ESP vocabulary learning strategies by them?The participants of the current study are from three natural classes in the Department of Information Technology from Hubei University of Finance and Taxation. First of all, reliability analysis is conducted on Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaires to ensure the reliability of the questionnaire. Then, The EGP Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire and the ESP Vocabulary Learning Strategy Questionnaire adopted from Gu Yongqi (1997) are revised and handed out to the participants at different period of time. When all the questionnaires are collected, data are analyzed to find out the general English study (EGP) vocabulary learning strategies and English study for specific purpose(ESP) vocabulary learning strategies. In addition, individual interviews are used for in-depth study.The major findings of this research are:(1) Traditional learning method as visual repetition and oral repetition are the popular vocabulary learning strategies by all the vocational college students in EGP vocabulary learning and the frequently used vocabulary learning strategies in ESP learning are visual repetition and oral repetition. And significant difference is found in the use of metacognitive strategy of selective attention between EGP and ESP vocabulary learning. Selective attention is more frequently used in EGP vocabulary learning than in ESP vocabulary learning.(2) The frequently used vocabulary learning strategy is oral repetition, and then inferencing in EGP learning for successful learners; the frequently used vocabulary learning strategy is inferencing and then oral repetition in ESP learning for successful learners. Successful learners use different vocabulary learning strategies in EGP learning and ESP learning. From the aspect of metocagnitive strategies, successful learners use selective attention strategy more frequently in EGP learning than in ESP learning. From the aspect of cognitive strategies, successful learners use inferencing strategies more frequently in EGP learning than in ESP learning.(3) Unsuccessful learners use visual repetition and oral repetition frequently in EGP learning; unsuccessful learners use visual repetition and oral repetition frequently in ESP learning. The vocabulary learning strategies used in EGP vocabulary learning is not much different from the strategies used in ESP vocabulary learning.