1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the Research
Wilkins (1987), a famous British linguist, believed that people can still express some ideas if they leave the grammatical structure, however, if there are no words in life, ideas can not be expressed. McCarthy (1990), an expert in lexicology, described the irreplaceable role of words in language communication more vividly. In his opinion, learners rely on vocabulary to express themselves even if they can master relatively comprehensive grammar knowledge and possess idiomatic pronunciation and intonation in their second language learning. Otherwise, it can not be regarded as a successful language communication activity. Through the views of the above two scholars, it is fully illustrated that if people want to learn language well, they must learn vocabulary well. Vocabulary is the foundation of a kand of language. The most basic and important part in English learning is vocabulary.
The importance of English vocabulary learning can also be seen in the growing trend of the number of words requirement for students in the English Curriculum Standard for Senior High Schools. The 1986 edition’s standard required students to master 1600 words. Now, in the English Curriculum Standard 2017 edition, the number of vocabulary requirements for senior high school students is 3500 to 4200. The increase in the number of words required to master is sufficient to demonstrate the importance of vocabulary learning in English learning. In English Learning Strategy, Zheng Min (2003) sited that many Chinese learners think that vocabulary is the most difficult to learn in English learning. A small number of English vocabulary will certainly affect the development of other knowledge and skills in languages. This shows the importance of English vocabulary learning.
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1.2 Significance of the Research
Vocabulary is the carrier of communication, is the cornerstone of English learning, without a certain vocabulary, students can not learn English. For senior high school English learners, there is no enough vocabulary, the listening, speaking, reading and writing will be impacted. Their mastery of vocabulary, to a certain extent, determines the success of English learning. The mastery of vocabulary is determined by the use of vocabulary learning strategies. However, vocabulary learning is still a stumbling block for many high school students, and it has become an obstacle for them to improve their English learning performance. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to investigate the use of vocabulary strategies in senior high school students both in theory and in practice.
1.2.1 Academic significance
Vocabulary learning strategies permeate all aspects of language-one-word learning. Learning theories without learning strategies are incomplete learning theories. The study of vocabulary learning strategies is an indispensable part of constructing a complete linguistic theory. Theoretically speaking, vocabulary learning strategies belong to the broad category of learning theory. Vocabulary learning, whether from the teacher's teaching angle or from the student's angle of learning, will appear in one way or another. This needs to be explained from the theoretical point of view, but also from the theoretical point of view to give guidance. Through the study of students' vocabulary learning strategies, we can explain the problem from the theoretical level and provide relevant solutions.
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Relevant Concept
2.1.1 Vocabulary Learning Strategy
In different ages, the scholars in various countries have made various interpretations of vocabulary learning strategies, and have given different definitions and classifications. In the 1960s, the concept of learning strategy was first proposed. The researchers of different learning strategies have discussed learning strategies from different aspects, and then put forward the definitions and classifications of different learning strategies that we know at present.
Rigney put forward the concept about it in 1978. The essence of learning strategy is the synthesis of various operating procedures, which are the processes used by students to acquire, preserve and extract knowledge. Oxford (1990) thinks learning strategy as a series of specific actions that learners take in order to make learning easier and more efficient, bring more pleasant experience in the learning process, make learning activities more autonomous, accept new knowledge faster and adapt to new situations more easily. Again for instance, American linguist O'Melly & Chamot (1990) defined learning strategies as special thought actions used by learners to help understand, learn and memorize information. In Nation(1990)'s view, the use of vocabulary learning strategies is is a choice in a large extent, which refers to the choice of vocabulary learning strategies. Vocabulary learning strategies are composed of different strategies, not a single one. Therefore, vocabulary learning strategies are very complex and it can make vocabulary learning more effective. Learners can learn and use vocabulary more effectively through the training of vocabulary learning strategies. Schmitt (1997) considered that vocabulary learning strategies can be regarded as conscious or unconscious behaviors, which affect every phrase in the process of learning. Cohen (1998) defines learning strategies as conscious and semi-conscious behaviors and psychological activities, which have clear goals. One of them may be to make the learning of knowledge and language skills easier, and the other aim is to use the language and make up for the lack of language knowledge. Stern(1998) pointed out that learning strategies are most suitable to refer to the general trend and general characteristics of the methods used by language learners. English Curriculum Standard (Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2017) defines learning strategies as: learning strategies mainly refer to various actions and steps taken by students to promote language learning and language use. The use of learning strategies is represented by the students' behavior of regulating and managing their own learning process, which is driven by the awareness of problems in the activities of language learning and application.
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2.2 Theoretical Basis
2.2.1 Meta-cognitive Theory
In 1976, the nation of meta-cognition was put forward by Flavell, a famous American psychologist. He believes that meta-cognitive process is not only the cognition of cognitive process and related factors, but also the adjustment, monitoring and harmonious integration of a series of cognitive processes. Meta-cognition is self-cognition. It is a person's knowledge and control of his own thinking or learning activities. He believes that meta-cognition is self-experience, self-observation, self-monitoring and self-adjustment of thinking activities. Its essence is self-consciousness and self-control of cognitive activities. The concrete concept includes the following three: meta-cognitive knowledge, meta-cognitive experience and meta-cognitive monitoring. Meta-cognitive knowledge is accumulated through learning and experience. There are three parts of knowledge: the knowledge of cognitive individuals, cognitive tasks, and the cognitive strategies. Individual meta-cognitive knowledge is a series of cognitive information about cognitive characteristics and structures of subject cognition. Task meta-cognitive Strategic meta-cognition is based on defining the characteristics and cognitive tasks of the cognitive subject, and improves the knowledge of cognitive goals, methods and ways to improve the efficiency of the cognitive goals and methods effectively on the basis of defining the cognitive subject's own characteristics and cognitive tasks. Meta-cognitive experience is the cognitive and emotional experience produced when it engaged in cognitive activities. For example, the learner realizes that he has understood and memorized most of the learning content, thus creating a relaxed and joyful mood. Meta-cognitive monitoring includes the following contents in the whole process of cognitive activity: clear the target of the activity, plan, implement steps, choose the application strategy, predict the result, timely feedback on the status of evaluation activities, timely revision of adjustment methods and strategies or revised objectives, evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of the strategy and the degree of completion of the task, test the results at the end of the activity, identify further action plans, or take appropriate improvement measures.
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3. Research Design ..................................... 16
3.1 Research Aims ..................................... 16
3.2 Research Questions ..................................... 16
4. Results and Discussion ............................................ 20
4.1 The Use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies ...................................... 20
4.1.1 Situation in Meta-cognitive Strategies .............................................. 22
4.1.2 Situation in Cognitive Strategies ...................................... 22
5. Conclusion ........................................ 30
5.1 Major findings .................................. 30
5.2 Implications ............................................. 31
4. Results and Discussion
4.1 The Use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
From the data in the table 4-1, it can be found that the overall average use of vocabulary strategy is 2.76. According to Oxford's scoring standard, the mean value of 2.5 to 3.4 indicates that the strategy is sometimes used, which indicates that the overall students' vocabulary learning strategies are used to a lower degree.Among the three types of lexical strategies, cognitive strategies are the highest in average, with a value of 3.24. This was followed by meta-cognitive strategies, with an average of 2.58. The lowest frequency was socioaffective strategies, with an average of 2.45. High school students have the lowest frequency of using socioaffective strategies. This is consistent with the results of Li Aiyun's (2005) study. This made known that the overall use of socioaffective strategies in senior high school students is not good. The use of cognitive strategies among the vocabulary learning strategies of senior high school students is the best. Through the data, it can be found that high school students use the highest frequency of cognitive strategies, followed by meta-cognitive strategies, socioaffective strategies are the lowest. This shows that students do not know enough about socioemotional strategies and use them insufficiently. Socioaffective strategies include cooperative learning, self-motivation, and help-seeking strategies. In other words, compared to other strategies, students are not good at cooperative learning.
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5. Conclusion
5.1 Major findings
This thesis is based on O'Melly and Chomat's classification of vocabulary learning strategies, meta-cognitive theory and constructivism theory. The main results of the study can be summarized as follows.
First, the overall frequency of English vocabulary learning of senior high school students in this region is low at present. This survey shows that senior middle school students will use a variety of vocabulary learning strategies, but the overall frequency of use of each strategy is not high, the average value is less than 3.5. Among the three strategies, the most commonly used strategies are cognitive strategies, followed by meta-cognitive strategies, and the least commonly used are socioaffective strategies. As a whole, their strategies are not used frequently. The use of socioaffective strategies is the lowest frequency, which shows that students are not good at cooperation, not good at asking for help. The frequency of metacognitive strategy is common, and the frequency of cognitive strategy is the highest. Overall, however, the use of vocabulary strategies is not good. Students are more inclined to promote vocabulary learning through media such as movies and music. Students rarely check their vocabulary learning regularly. They can not summarize in time, and they can not find their weaknesses in time, and they can not be targeted review.
Second, students with good grades use vocabulary learning strategies better than those with poor grades. The results of this survey show that the frequency of using three learning strategies is the highest in high-level students, the second in middle-level students, and the lowest in lower-segment students. The results show that learners who are good at using strategies tend to achieve good results in English learning, while students with poor academic achievement lack the use of English vocabulary learning strategies. Therefore, the better the students use English vocabulary learning strategies, the more they will play a positive role in learning.
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