Discussions for the Most and Least Frequently Used Vocabulary
Learning Strategies
Of ten most frequently used strategies, there are four memory strategies, three
cognitive strategies, one determination strategy, one metacognitive strategy, and one
social strategy. They are presented in the following.
Table 16
The Ten Most Frequently Used Strategies
Memory Strategies
1.Study the spelling of a word
2.Study the sound of a word
3.Use scales for gradable adjectives
4.Part of speech (remembering)
Cognitive Strategies
1.Verbal repetition
2.Take notes in class
3.Use the vocabulary section in your textbook
Social Strategies
1. Discover new meaning through group activity
Determination Strategies
1.Guess from textual context
Metacognitive Strategies
1.Testing oneself with word tests
That is, students favor memory strategies and cognitive strategies. Among the ten
frequently used strategies, most of strategies belong to shallow strategies which
involve shallow activities, such as <Study the spelling of a word>, < Study the sound
of a word > and <Take notes in class>. This means students put emphasis on the form
of word, including phonological form (sound) and orthographical (spelling) form.
Takeuchi’s (2003) research with Japanese also mentions that reading aloud many
times and reading a lot are the two strategies favored most. There are two reasons that
can explain why students have a preference for them. First, shallow strategies involve
less mental processing and less manipulation of information so they are suitable for
novice learners. Therefore, they would be understood and used easily for junior high
school students. Second, the teacher also emphasized a word’s sound and spelling
(strategies used in the classroom like study the sound) when teaching new vocabulary.
Although it is not the most frequently used strategies in the classroom, based on the
teacher’s personal questionnaire, the teacher thought it was one of the strategies that
helped students a lot. Hence strategic teaching also affects their vocabulary
processing.
In this study, <Studying the spelling of a word> ranks first among the ten most
frequently used strategies. There is one possible explanation for the result. That is
vocabulary test. After the teacher completes new vocabulary teaching every time,
students have a vocabulary test. The way of testing was that students have to write
down the word’s spelling and Chinese meaning which the teacher say in English.
Hence, it would make students focus on the spelling of the word. Rote learning is also
important like <Verbal repetition> which ranks second. O’Malley (1987) finds that
Asian students persist in using repetitive strategies to process vocabulary learning.
The result is in accord with the finding of Schmitt (1997) and Chen (1998) that
students have preference for processing vocabulary through repetition. One
explanation for this is that verbal repetition is one of the strategies used by the teacher
and it is an easy tool to be used anytime. <Take notes in class> ranked third. This
result can be interpreted by the learning environment. In Taiwan, teachers are the
authority in the classroom and provide their knowledge for students. What students
have to do is to listen and take important notes. On the side, <Guess from textual
context> is one of the ten most frequently used strategies which ranks sixth. The
result may be explained by considering about the teacher’s teaching. In terms of
classroom observation, the teacher asked students to do reading exercise so they had
chances to face many unfamiliar words. Accordingly, the teacher would offer them
strategies to deal with them. That means strategic teaching influence students a lot.
The ten least frequently used vocabulary learning strategies were showed in the
following.
Table 17
The Ten Least Frequently Used Strategies
Memory Strategies
1.Use semantic maps
2.Underline initial letter of the word
3.Use physical action when learning a word
Cognitive Strategies
1.Flash cards
2.Listen to tape or CD of word lists
3.Put English labels on physical objects
4.Keep a vocabulary notebook
5.Listen to English radio
Determination Strategies
1.Monolingual dictionary
Metacognitive Strategies
1.Skip or pass new word
The results indicate that the students don’t like to use vocabulary learning
strategies about study aids, such as visual aids (flash cards, notebook, and labels),
auditory aids (tapes or CD), and physical aids (physical action). <Listen to tape or CD
of word lists> may not intrigue students’ learning because it is lack of connection and
situation between the words. <Put English labels on physical objects> is convenient
and students can learn on the instant. However, the students may not have extra time
to do this. <Use physical action when learning a word> is suitable for novice learners
like using pictures but it is the second least frequently used strategy. The reason is that
when leaning a new word, students have to think about certain physical actions to
remember the word. Nevertheless, words learned by junior high school students are
concrete so words can be expressed concretely and directly through pictures. <Use
semantic maps> is the strategy that involved mental processing so it would be
difficult for beginners like junior high school students. As for <Monolingual
dictionary>, compared with bilingual and electronic dictionary, it is hard for students
to use it because students don’t know many words. Accordingly, students are more
interested in bilingual and electronic dictionary than Monolingual dictionary.