A Study On The Correlation Between Cognitive Styles And Vocabulary Learning Strategies In Junior High School English Teaching

In English teaching and learning, vocabulary learning strategies which are applied to improve vocabulary learning efficiency have attracted many researchers’ attention. However, the application of suitable vocabulary learning strategies among students is still less satisfactory. One of the reasons is the isolation of students’ cognitive style in the study of vocabulary acquisition. So far, the researches on the relationship between cognitive style of field independence/field dependence and vocabulary learning strategies are relatively rare at home and abroad, and most researchers just pay attention to college students, especially English major students. There are barely researches referring to juniors in the field of cognitive style. Based on the relevant theories, this dissertation explores Chinese juniors’cognitive styles and understands the situation on applying vocabulary learning strategy among juniors, revealing the correlation among cognitive styles, vocabulary learning strategies and the application of vocabulary learning strategies at different levels of juniors.In order to realize the research objectives, the experiment was conducted at two Grade 2 classes in a private middle school in Hangzhou. Class 1 is the experimental class (EC), and Class 2 is the control class (CC). Students from the experimental class received a three-month vocabulary learning strategy training while students from the control class received the traditional vocabulary learning methods. The author applied Cognitive Style Figure Test, Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire, vocabulary tests and English test to find the differences between the EC and CC. The quantitative analysis was done by using SPSS 20.The following three research questions are highlighted:1. Do cognitive styles have an effect on vocabulary learning? If so, to what extent do cognitive styles have an effect on vocabulary learning?2. What are the differences on the application and acquisition of vocabulary learning strategies among students with different cognitive styles?3. What’s the relationship among cognitive style, the application of vocabulary learning strategies and different levels of juniors?The results show that:(1) Juniors adopt cognitive strategies and social strategies extensively, but students in middle school are poor at using metacognitive strategies; (2) Cognitive styles have a great effect on vocabulary learning; (3) There exists a significant correlation between cognitive styles and vocabulary learning strategies; (4) There exists a strong positive correlation between cognitive style and different levels of juniors; (5) There is no correlation between the application of vocabulary learning strategies and different levels of juniors.The study not only sheds a new light on the research of vocabulary learning strategies, but also implies that the cognitive style can be applied on English teaching.