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.