A Study on English Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Chinese College Students

Gang XU

Abstract


This article is a study on the learning strategies of English vocabulary used by Chinese College English learners. The study is to draw on related theories as well as a case study to ascertain the strategies that are useful for Chinese college students in particular. Due to their large percentage as ESL learners, the study will illuminate the strategies that may be conductive to learning English vocabulary in general. The participants in the study are 119 fourth-year students from Inner Mongolian University for nationalities, China. For data collection, the study applies a vocabulary test and a vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire. And ANOVA is employed for data analysis. The result of the study shows the effecive vocabulary learning strategies of the Chinese college students.

Keywords


L2 vocabulary; Chinese college students; Strategies; Frequency of use; Usefulness

Full Text:

PDF

References


Atkinson, R. C. (1975). Mnemotechnics in second language learning. American Psychologist, 30, 821-828.

Bialystok, E. (1981). The role of conscious strategies in second language proficiency. Modern Language Journal, 65, 24-35.

Brown, C., & Payne, M. E. (1994). Five essential steps of processes in vocabulary learning. Paper presented at the TESOL Convention, Baltimore, M. D.

Carrel, P., & Eisterhold, J. (1983). Schema theory and ESL reading pedgogy. TESOL Quarterly, 17, 553-573.

Carter & McCarthy. (Eds.).(1988). Vocabulary and Language-teaching. New York: Longman.

Carter, R. (1987). Vocabulary and second/foreign language teaching. Language Teaching, 20(1), 3-6.

Fan, M. Y. (2006). Language beliefs and strategies of high and low achievers. In G. S. Hu (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1998 international conference on teaching english at tertiary level in the Chinese context. Beijing: Tsinghua University Press.

Ge, S. H. (2003). An empirical study on incidental vocabulary acquisition of English majors. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, (4).

Gu,Y., & Johnson, P. K. (1996). Vocabulary learning strategies and language learning outcomes. Language Learning, 46, 643-697.

Gui, S. C. (1995). An survey on the vocabulary of English majors in China. Modern Foreign Languages, (3).

Kelly, P. (1990). Guessing: No substitute for systematic learning of lexis. System, 18, 199-207.

Knight, S. (1994). Dictionary use while reading: The effects on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for studets of different verbal abilities. Modern Language Journal, 78, 285-299.

Lawson, M. J., & Hogben, D. (1996). The vocabulary learning strategies of foreign language students. Language Learning, 46, 101-135.

Levin, J. R., Levin, M. E., Glassman, L. D., & Nordwall, M. B. (1992). Mnemonic vocabulary instruction: Additional effectiveness evidence. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17, 156-174.

Luppescu, S., & Day, R. R. (1993). Reading dictionaries and vocabulary learning. Language Learning, 43, 263-287.

Naiman, N., Fronhlich, M., Stern, H. H., & Todesco, A. (1978). The good language learner. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

O’Malley, J. M., Chamot, A. U., Stewner-Manzanares, G., Russo, R., & Kuper, I. (1985). Learning strategy applications with students of English as a second language. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 285-296.

O’Malley, J. M., Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pressley, M., Levin, J. R., & Miller, G. E. (1982). The keyword method compared to alternative vocabulary learning strategies. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 7, 50-60.

Qxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. Boston: Newbury House.

Schmitt, N. (2000).Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Sokmen, A. J. (1997). Current trends in reading second language vocabulary. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description,acquisition,and pedagogy (pp.237-257). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wen, Q. F. (1995). The differences of learning strategies between the successful English learner and the less successful. Modern Foreign Languages, (3).




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/n

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c)




Share us to:   


 

Online Submissionhttp://cscanada.org/index.php/sll/submission/wizard


Reminder

How to do online submission to another Journal?

If you have already registered in Journal A, then how can you submit another article to Journal B? It takes two steps to make it happen:

1. Register yourself in Journal B as an Author

Find the journal you want to submit to in CATEGORIES, click on “VIEW JOURNAL”, “Online Submissions”, “GO TO LOGIN” and “Edit My Profile”. Check “Author” on the “Edit Profile” page, then “Save”.

2. Submission

Go to “User Home”, and click on “Author” under the name of Journal B. You may start a New Submission by clicking on “CLICK HERE”.


We only use three mailboxes as follows to deal with issues about paper acceptance, payment and submission of electronic versions of our journals to databases: caooc@hotmail.com; sll@cscanada.net; sll@cscanada.org

 Articles published in Studies in Literature and Language are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY).

 STUDIES IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE Editorial Office

Address: 1055 Rue Lucien-L'Allier, Unit #772, Montreal, QC H3G 3C4, Canada.
Telephone: 1-514-558 6138 
Website: Http://www.cscanada.net; Http://www.cscanada.org 
E-mailoffice@cscanada.net; office@cscanada.org; caooc@hotmail.com

Copyright © 2010 Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture