A Study Of The Correlation Between Junior Two Students’ English Vocabulary Learning Achievement And Their Cognitive Load

Students’ English vocabulary learning is not only affected by intellectual factors,but also affected by non-intellectual factors like learning materials and cognitive load.Cognitive load,as one of the important non-intellectual elements influencing students’ study,has attracted many scholars’ attention in the past 30 years,and Cognitive Load Theory has gradually become one of the significant theoretical framework of instructional design.In recent years,abundant studies of the correlation between cognitive load and students’ learning effect have been conducted and fruitful achievements have been made.However,studies of the correlation between junior students’ English vocabulary learning and their cognitive load are not so remarkable.Nevertheless,vocabulary is the foundation of English study and it often produces profound impact on students learning skills such as listening,speaking,reading,writing and translating.Some researches show that many students are experiencing high cognitive load when learning English vocabulary,and their learning is not effective as expected.After entering second year of their middle school study,most students’ cognitive load increase significantly and their English vocabulary learning turns to be unsatisfactory due to the need to learn more difficult and complex words.Based on such background,this study,with Junior Two students as the research participants,tries to answer the following questions through quantitative and qualitative research methods:1.What is the current situation of Junior Two students’ cognitive load in their vocabulary learning?2.What is the correlation between Junior Two students’ English vocabulary learning achievement and different types of cognitive load?3.What is the correlation between Junior Two students’ English vocabulary learning achievement and the influencing factors of cognitive load?In this study,204 Junior Two students from a middle school in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province are selected as the research subjects.Data is collected through a revised cognitive load measuring tools of previous researchers,and SPSS software is used to analyze the data.It is found that in the process of English vocabulary leaning,most Junior Two students experience high cognitive load.Many students’ Intrinsic Cognitive Load,Extraneous Cognitive Load and Germane Cognitive Load reach the moderate level,and more than 80% students’ Total Cognitive Load is at a moderate or higher level.Besides,there are some differences in terms of students’ gender and the different groups of academic achievement they belong.In general,boys’ cognitive load is higher than that of girls and the cognitive load of students in Group 3(low-score group)is higher than other groups.Besides,there is a significant correlation between Junior Two students’ English vocabulary learning achievement and different types of cognitive load.In general,students’ English vocabulary learning achievement is negatively correlated with their Total Cognitive Load,Intrinsic Cognitive Load and Extraneous Cognitive Load,but positively correlated with their Germane Cognitive Load.However,there are some differences in above relationships in terms of gender and different groups of academic achievement.Besides,this study applies regression analysis to explore the main predictive factors of students’ English vocabulary learning achievement,the results show that: Intrinsic Cognitive Load is the predictive factor for students’ vocabulary learning achievement among boys students,girls students and Group 3(low-score group)students.Intrinsic Cognitive Load and Germane Cognitive Load are the main predictors among Group 1(high-score group)students.As for students in Group 2(middle-score group),their achievement is mainly predicted by Intrinsic Cognitive Load and Extraneous Cognitive Load.This study also finds that Junior Two students’ English vocabulary learning achievement is significantly correlated with the influencing factors of cognitive load.Generally speaking,the characteristics and presentation modes of learning materials and teaching organization are negatively related to students’ English vocabulary learning achievement.But learners’ previous knowledge,learning strategies and emotional investment are positively related to their achievement.However,there are some differences in above correlation in terms of gender and different groups of academic achievement.Moreover,this study finds that the predictability of the above influencing factors to students’ English vocabulary learning achievement is different.Generally,students’ vocabulary achievement is mainly predicted by previous knowledge and the characteristics of learning materials.In terms of gender,boys’ achievement is only predicted by previous knowledge,but there are three predictors about girls’ achievement,namely,the characteristics of learning materials,previous knowledge and presentation modes of learning materials.From the perspective of academic achievement groups,previous knowledge and learning strategies are the main predictors of the vocabulary achievement for students in Group 1(high-score group).While students’ vocabulary achievement in Group 2(middle-score group)is mainly predicted by characteristics of learning materials.Students’ achievement in Group 3(low-score group)is mainly predicted by previous knowledge and the presentation modes of learning materials when learning English vocabulary.To a certain degree,the results are helpful to English vocabulary instruction in junior middle schools.On the one hand,it encourages teachers to learn Cognitive Load Theory and pay attention to the differences of students’ cognition,reduce students’ Intrinsic Cognitive Load and Extraneous Cognitive Load by improving teaching design,so as to increase students’ Germane Cognitive Load.On the other hand,it promotes teachers to develop students’ English vocabulary learning strategies,helping them optimize the structure of cognitive load and improve their English vocabulary learning.