scholarly journals Vocabulary Learning Strategies: The Case of English for Business and Financial Reporting

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-331
Author(s):  
Hélder Fanha Martins ◽  
Maria João Ferro

Among the essential challenges faced by students in foreign language learning processes is vocabulary learning. Lexical competence has been acknowledged as critical to the use of language in which the students’ inadequate knowledge of the vocabulary causes problems in learning a second language. Therefore, learners require being educated with vocabulary in learning strategies when learning a second language. Contemporary research has not scrutinised to the fullest the categories of strategies of vocabulary learning used by learners who are majoring in Accounting.  The main objective of this research was to understand how students use vocabulary learning strategies. For that, we adopted a qualitative approach, based on open-ended individual interviews with fifteen learners. The strategies that were concluded include the monolingual and bilingual dictionary use, usage of several media of English language, learning a word by specific texts, and application of new words in everyday conversation, interrelated to memory, strategies of metacognitive, and determination. These are common strategies and have keenly been used by students.

Vocabulary learning is one of the problems in language learning skills. Tackling such problems is to provide useful and effective strategies for enhancing students’ VLSs. Therefore, this study aims to survey vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) utilized among English as a Foreign Language learners (EFL) in Baghlan University of Afghanistan, and to study the high and least frequently used VLSs that contributes to the learners’ vocabulary knowledge. This study utilizes a descriptive quantitative research method with 67 EFL learners who participated in the survey questionnaire adopted from Oxford (1990) taxonomy of VLS from different faculties of Baghlan University. The findings indicated that EFL learners preferably utilize VLSs at a medium level, and the highly used vocabulary learning strategies are the social strategies through which they ask the native speakers, teachers, and classmates for the meanings of new words in English language conversation. Determination, cognitive, and memory strategies are respectively followed by the learners. Whereas, metacognitive strategies are the least used strategies among EFL learners, the reason is that they only focus on the materials related to examination; explore anything about the new words for learning, and rarely think of their improvement in vocabulary learning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-295
Author(s):  
Elnaz Zariholhosseini ◽  
Ehsan Namaziandost ◽  
Mehdi Nasri

Purpose of the study: This article report’s findings from a study on the differences and similarities between experienced and novice English language learners with regards to their personal use of VLS. Methodology: Closed questionnaire and semi-structure interviews were applied to collect the data. The questionnaire was distributed among 60 (30 experienced learners and 30 novice learners). In addition, 20 learners (10 experienced learners and 10 novice learners) were asked to answer the questions in the interview. Therefore, descriptive statistics, U Mann Whitney test, and independent-sample t-test were run to compare and analyzed the data. Main Findings: The finding showed that there were significant differences between experienced and novice learners’ thoughts towards vocabulary learning strategies and experienced learners used vocabulary learning strategies while learning new words in English language learning. Applications of this study: If the learners are taught how to use each strategy correctly, their understanding of the language can naturally be improved. Moreover, VLS is beneficial throughout the process of vocabulary learning which makes learners more independent and allows teachers to focus on other things as well. Novelty/Originality of this study: To the best of researchers’ knowledge, no study has been done on investigating Iranian experienced and novice English language learners` perceptions towards most useful vocabulary learning strategies (VLS).


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 218-223
Author(s):  
Ghada Alahmad

It is generally agreed in the field of Foreign Language Learning (FLL) that Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) are a subcategory of the more general Language Learning Strategies (LLSs). Research into LLSs began based on the belief that language aptitude was not the only determinant factor of language achievement, and that the learners’ own learning effort and the way they approach language learning also played a major role. The purpose of this study is to investigate VLS use of Saudi female undergraduate EFL learners in each stage of the Vocabulary Learning Process (VLP) and its relation to their vocabulary size. The study population consisted of female students enrolled in the final year of the undergraduate English language program in an English department in a Saudi university. Forty-one students participated in this study, and two data collection instruments were used. The first instrument was a frequency of use questionnaire designed based on the learning process-oriented taxonomy of VLSs. The second was a Vocabulary Size Test. The analyses show that the participants used 17 strategies with a high frequency in all the stages of the VLP except for Stages Four and Six. The analyses also show that the most frequently used strategies were mainly cognitive strategies (nine strategies) and metacognitive strategies (five strategies). In terms of the relationship between the use of VLSs and vocabulary size, two strategies were found to be positively correlated with the participants’ vocabulary size. Interestingly, other strategies that are known to be effective in vocabulary learning were found to have a negative correlation with the participants’ vocabulary size.


Author(s):  
Chiara Romagnoli ◽  
Sergio Conti

Abstract Vocabulary plays a crucial role in foreign language learning, and vocabulary mastery proves to be challenging at different competence levels. Compared to other areas of research into Chinese as a foreign language, vocabulary acquisition and vocabulary teaching have rarely been investigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size and to verify whether vocabulary size is positively correlated to proficiency level. A total of 95 Italian undergraduate Chinese learners, from elementary to intermediate levels, participated in this study. The participants were first given a vocabulary learning questionnaire and then a vocabulary size test. Statistical and qualitative analyses of the data revealed two trends: a poor variety of vocabulary learning strategies and a positive correlation between vocabulary size and proficiency level.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrah Mahmoud Ismaiel ◽  
AbdulRahman Awadh Al Asmari

The study of vocabulary can be considered a chief issue which the second language students encounter within the learning of another language especially, for non-English major students. This study aims at assessing the influence of a suggested program for enhancing EFL students` vocabulary and vocabulary learning strategies use. The sample of this study consists of (123) females, it is parted into two sections; the experimental group consists of 55 female students and the control group consists of 68 female students. During the course of the study, learners were randomly chosen and randomly were divided into the experimental and control groups. The aim of the study is twofold: (a) to assess if there exist notable discrepancies between these two groups on the English Language Vocabulary post-test and vocabulary language learning strategies. The study also aims to analyze if there exist important discrepancies in the mean grades of pre and post-test of the English Language Vocabulary test and vocabulary language learning strategies. The research applied will continue for 12 weeks throughout the second semester which includes the proposed program. Students` vocabulary learning strategies were measured by Schmitt’s (1997) questionnaire. This questionnaire contains 58 items covering five main strategies that are determination plans, social plans, memory tactics, cognitive plans and meta-cognitive programs. While the Students` English Language Vocabulary size was measured by English Language vocabulary test that was designed by the researchers. The research accomplished lasted for three months that encompasses the suggested plan. The gathered data demonstrated that there existed statistically important discrepancies between the experimental group and the control group on the post-test, in which the experimental one was more bolded. It also uncovred that there existed statistically important discrepancies among the pre-test and post-test outcomes for the experimental group on the diction examination. Moreover, the grades depicted that there existed statistically notable discrepancies among the experimental group and its counterpart. The data of the present research have notable insinuations for the learners and make an enhanced case for the study of diction and vocabulary. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Julie Ann Bytheway

<p>This small‐scale case‐study used research processes inherent in Grounded Theory to identify and explain vocabulary learning strategies used by players in MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role‐playing games), an informal second language learning context. This investigation was in response to informal reports of second language vocabulary gains from gamers at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) and the University of Twente (The Netherlands). Data was collected from observations of, interviews with, and elicited texts from six participants, and three types of extant texts from World of Warcraft. Constant comparative analysis was used to allow patterns and processes to emerge from the data to explain social phenomena. Participants identified fifteen vocabulary learning strategies and aspects of MMORPGs that affect these strategies. Vocabulary learning strategies in MMORPGs are affected by play, which affects learning processes and motivation; MMORPG culture, which affects participants’ interaction, curiosity, and independent learning; and the range and use of language in MMORPGs, which affects participants’ language use, attitudes, and vocabulary learning strategies. Findings were compared to Gu’s (2005) model of vocabulary learning strategies in contexts, and Gu’s model was adapted to suit this MMORPG second language learning context. Aspects of MMORPGs affect second language vocabulary learning strategies gamers develop, select and use. This study highlights the need to value MMORPGs as contexts for learners’ vocabulary learning strategies and argues for further study into MMORPGs as contexts of vocabulary learning strategies.</p>


Author(s):  
Hamza Atifnigar Editor ◽  
Zia Ur Rahman Zaheer ◽  
Wahidullah Alokozay

Vocabulary learning is one of the problems in language learning skills. Tackling such problems is to provide useful and effective strategies for enhancing students’ VLSs. Therefore, this study aims to survey vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) utilized among English as a Foreign Language learners (EFL) in Baghlan University of Afghanistan, and to study the high and least frequently used VLSs that contributes to the learners’ vocabulary knowledge. This study utilizes a descriptive quantitative research method with 67 EFL learners who participated in the survey questionnaire adopted from Oxford (1990) taxonomy of VLS from different faculties of Baghlan University. The findings indicated that EFL learners preferably utilize VLSs at a medium level, and the highly used vocabulary learning strategies are the social strategies through which they ask the native speakers, teachers, and classmates for the meanings of new words in English language conversation. Determination, cognitive, and memory strategies are respectively followed by the learners. Whereas, metacognitive strategies are the least used strategies among EFL learners, the reason is that they only focus on the materials related to examination; explore anything about the new words for learning, and rarely think of their improvement in vocabulary learning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.25) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Jamilah Al-Harbi ◽  
Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim

One of the major challenges that learners face during the process of foreign language learning is acquiring vocabulary. Thus, students need to employ various vocabulary learning strategies to acquire the vocabulary of a foreign language. The present study attempts to identify the vocabulary learning strategies employed by Saudi English major students. This study also aims to examine if there are differences between male and female students in the pattern and frequency of strategy use. Sixty-five first-year English major students of Majmaah University participated in the study. Their vocabulary learning strategies were measured using the Vocabulary Learning Strategy Survey. The results showed that students preferred cognitively less demanding strategies compared to the ones that required deeper cognitive processing. The most frequently used strategies were “I try to remember the word by repeating it for several times,” “I try to guess the meaning of the word from text/context” and “I learn new words when I interact with native speakers.” In general, social strategy is the most used strategy while memory strategy is the least used. The findings also showed that males preferred social strategy compared to females who preferred cognitive strategy and that two strategies (cognitive and memory strategies) showed significant differences between the two genders.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 102-116
Author(s):  
Umazah Omar ◽  
Aizan Yaacob

Vocabulary is described as an essential element in second language learning. Having a good command over vocabulary helps in gaining unlimited access to latest information available at different platforms. Therefore, improving vocabulary through Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) will help the second language learners to become, academically and communicatively, more successful. The present study investigated the types of vocabulary learning strategies used by teacher trainees majoring in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the Institute for Teachers Education (ITEs) Darulaman Campus. Vocabulary learning strategies or skills are not directly taught to TESL teacher trainees during their training at ITEs. Teaching and learning vocabulary strategies are neglected by most of the teacher trainees. However, they need to make their teaching and learning processes more successful while learning a second language. This study was conducted based on the theories related to second language acquisition and used qualitative approach using the structured interviews of 14 TESL teacher trainees. The findings of the study were analysed based on Gu and Johnson’s (1996) and Schmitt (1996) categorisation of Vocabulary Learning Strategies and the results revealed TESL teacher trainees employed more metacognitive strategies in their vocabulary learning compared to other nine VLSs.


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