英语专业非专业学生在英语词汇学习上差异研究报告

1、-PAGE . zA Study of Differencesin Vocabulary LearningBetween English and Non-English MajorsAbstract:The present study is an attempt to investigate the differences in the use of vocabulary learning strategies between 39 non-English majors and 26 English majors and the correlations thereof with their

2、vocabulary. The instruments adopted a questionnaire, a vocabulary test and individual interviews. Detailed analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data has yielded the findings as follows: 1) The English majors tend to adopt a variety of vocabulary learning strategies; 2) Subjects in different

3、 majors are found to be significantly different from each other in several vocabulary learning strategies; 3) There e*ists a certain correlation between students vocabulary learning strategies and their vocabulary.Key Words:vocabulary; vocabulary strategy; English majors; non-English majors, 英语专业与非专

4、业学生在英语词汇学习上的差异研究摘 要：本文以39名非英语专业和26名英语专业学生为调查对象，采用问卷、词汇量测试、面谈等方式，对两者英语词汇学习策略的差异及其与词汇量的相关性进展了调查研究，统计数据分析结果说明：1英语专业的学生能广泛运用各种策略习得词汇；2非英语专业和英语专业学生在多项词汇学习策略的使用上存在显著差异；3词汇学习策略与词汇量之间具有一定相关性。关键词：词汇量；词汇策略；英语专业学生；非英语专业学生; CONTENTS TOC o 1-3 h z HYPERLINK l _Toc199580503Introduction PAGEREF _Toc199580503 h 1HY

5、PERLINK l _Toc1995805041.Theories on English Learning Strategies PAGEREF _Toc199580504 h 2HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805052. Study Methods PAGEREF _Toc199580505 h 3HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805062.1 Study Objects PAGEREF _Toc199580506 h 3HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805072.2 Study Subjects PAGEREF _Toc199580507 h 3HYPERL

6、INK l _Toc1995805082.3 Study Tools PAGEREF _Toc199580508 h 3HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805092.3.1 Vocabulary Learning Strategies Survey PAGEREF _Toc199580509 h 3HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805102.3.2 Vocabulary Evaluation PAGEREF _Toc199580510 h 4HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805112.4 Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc199580511 h 4

7、HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805123 Results and Discussion PAGEREF _Toc199580512 h 5HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805133.1 Learning Concepts results PAGEREF _Toc199580513 h 5HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805143.2 Learning Strategies Descriptions PAGEREF _Toc199580514 h 6HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805153.3 Differences PAGEREF _Toc19958

8、0515 h 9HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805163.3.1 Strategy Differences in Se* PAGEREF _Toc199580516 h 9HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805173.3.2 Strategy Differences in Major PAGEREF _Toc199580517 h 10HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805183.4 Relevance PAGEREF _Toc199580518 h 14HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805193.4.1. Correlation between acpl

9、ishments and vocabulary PAGEREF _Toc199580519 h 14HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805203.4.2. Relevance between independent strategies and vocabulary and results. PAGEREF _Toc199580520 h 14HYPERLINK l _Toc1995805214. Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc199580521 h 17HYPERLINK l _Toc199580522Bibliography PAGEREF _Toc19958052

10、2 h 19HYPERLINK l _Toc199580523Appendi* PAGEREF _Toc199580523 h 20-. zIntroductionThe famous linguist D.A.Wilkins once has said: “Without grammar, few can be e*pressed, without vocabulary; nothing can be e*pressed. Levelt also has said: “Vocabulary is the driving force of language output. For lack o

11、f vocabulary, language learners find it hard to accurately e*press their points and e*change their ideas with others freely. Therefore, if we want to cultivate the learners prehensive skills of listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating, we should help to build the learners vocabulary fir

12、st. According to College English Syllabus, the vocabulary requirement for CET4 is 4200 words, for CET6, 5500 words and for TEM4, 6000. However, a great part of the students can not meet this requirement, which hinders their development of language skills. Clearly, the lack of the vocabulary has been

13、 a bottleneck for their English learning.Toenlargevocabulary, memorizing strategies have been particularly important for learners. Well-established vocabulary learning strategies are the important way to improve the proficiency of the English learners. Language learning is a continuous process throu

14、gh ones entire life, while the vocabulary learning strategies play an important role for students language learning. Mastering the effective learning strategies can lay the foundation for students further learning. Therefore, we believe that the study of students vocabulary learning strategy, whethe

15、r for English or other second language learners, is very necessary to solve problem.In recent years, Chinas foreign language scholars give more and more attention to English vocabulary learning strategies and have done a lot of fruitful researches for undergraduate and graduate students. But most of

16、 the researches focus on the use of the vocabulary learning strategies and itscorrelation with the score of CET4. Cohen, Nation and other scholars discuss the various vocabulary learning strategies and their advantages and disadvantages in details. Ahmed, Lawson and Hogben, Sanaouiand others do some

17、 parative studies on vocabulary learning methods between top students and poor students. However, the different cultural groups of learners have different vocabulary learning strategies and perspectives. Yet few researches have done parative study between English professional and non-professional st

18、udents in their vocabulary learning strategies.In light of the above reasons, this study used two parts of vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire and a vocabulary test, conducted a survey between the English professional and non-professional students, and aimed to identify the different learni

19、ng strategies between the two, and their impact on vocabulary learning results.1.Theories on English Learning StrategiesWen Qiufang divides the strategies of English learners into two categories: management strategies and language learning strategies. Management strategies refer to the management of

20、 ones learning activities,such as setting goals, making plans, selecting strategies, and self-controlling strategies. Language learning strategiesinclude students opinion on how to master the language knowledge, language skills and interpersonal skills. They include functional-training strategy, mot

21、her-tongue-reliant strategy, repetition strategy, etc.O Malley and Chamot offer another strategy division at two levels: metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies. The former can be divided into four kinds: planning, self-evaluation, self-censorship and selective attention. The latter can be

22、 divided into sub-rote strategy, classification strategy, the conte*t strategy, dictionary looking-up strategy, guessing strategy, e*ercises practicing strategy and association strategy.Vocabulary learning is the fundamental step of English study, especially for the non-English majors. Mastering sui

23、table vocabulary learning strategiesplays a particularly importantfunction. The questionnaire results of vocabulary growth and Vocabulary Learning Strategies by Zhao *incheng show the situation of 71 non-English major students in one year. 1. The vocabularygrowth has a significant correlation with m

24、anagement strategies and word-association strategies.At the same time, the association strategies have a forecast for the growth of vocabulary. 2. There are some differences in the use of vocabulary learning strategies between the high points group and the low one. 3. In the process of vocabulary le

25、arning, the high points group uses more cognitive resources in vocabulary processing.Yuan Fengshis study attempts to investigate the difference in the use of language learning strategies (LLS) between 515 non-English majors and 317 English majors and the correlation with their academic achievement i

26、n English. Analysis indicates that significant differences e*ist in all LLS between the two groups. Their LLS and their respective CET4 and TEM4 scores show certain correlations.Feng Yufangs paper reports an empirical study on various kinds of vocabulary learning strategies employed by the English m

27、ajors at different proficiency levels in the Chinese conte*t. The subjects are first-year and third-year English majors from Yanzhou University。The author found the English majorsuse variety of vocabulary learning strategies, and different proficiency level students use different vocabulary learning

28、 strategies. There e*ists a certain correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary size2. Study Methods2.1 Study ObjectsThe study is designed to answer the following questions:1) Islearners vocabulary relevant totheir academic performance? 2) Are there any relevance between ones v

29、ocabulary strategies and vocabulary? 3) Are there any relevance between ones vocabulary size and academic achievement?4)Are there any difference in vocabulary strategy using between English major and non-English major?5) Will gender cause difference in vocabulary strategy using? 6) Willvocabulary le

30、arning conceptsinfluence vocabulary strategy using?7) Will vocabulary strategies influence vocabulary size?8) Will vocabulary strategies influence the academic achievements?2.2 Study SubjectsThere are 39non-professional freshmenparticipating in the investigation, 11 girlstudents and 28 boystudents.

31、And 26English major seniors participated, 23girls and 3 boys. Almost all the students e from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology. 2.3 StudyToolsVocabulary Learning Strategies SurveyTheVocabulary Learning Strategies survey can be divided into three parts: First, personal information, includ

32、ing se*, major, grade; Second, the vocabulary learning concepts; Third, the vocabulary learning strategies, including mother-tongue-reliant strategy , initial memory strategy, inferencestrategy,consolidation memory strategy, munication strategy, e*tra-curricular development strategy, planning strate

33、gy. The options of the second part adopt a 7 points system (17). Such as 1= absolutely disagree; 2= disagree; 3=tend to disagree; 4= Neutral 5= tend to agree; 6= agree 7= absolutely agree. The options of the third part adopt a 5 points system (15). Such as 1= never or rarely; 2= usually not; 3= some

34、times; 4= usually; 5= always. The questionnaire is attached in appendi*.Table 1Term ConceptNo. of QuestionsEmphasisQ. 1DifficultyQ. 2ReadingQ. 3RoteQ. 4StrategiesNo. of QuestionsMother-tongue-reliant strategyQ.3,4Initial memory strategyQ.13,1,16,2,17,18InferencestrategyQ.19,11,7Consolidation memory

35、strategyQ.20,10,21,5.munication strategyQ.9,8E*tra-curricular development strategyQ.15,12Planning strategyQ.6,14 Vocabulary EvaluationThere are 80 words in the vocabulary test, which is from the appendi* of New English-Chinese dictionary by Lu gusun. The students need to write down the Chinese meani

36、ng of the known words, and if he writes down a correct meaning, he gets one point. The final Vocabulary equivalent is the scores multiplying 300.2.4 Data AnalysisThe questionnaires were sent and collected in April, 2021. There are 87 valid questionnaires in all. The statistic software SPSS is used t

37、o calculate the mean points of each scored learning strategy, the independent samples T-tests and correlation to the data.3 Results and Discussion3.1 Learning Concepts resultsTable 2: vocabulary learning concepts results-. zEMPHASISFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.0011.61.61.62.

38、0023.23.24.83.0046.36.311.14.0057.97.919.05.001117.517.536.56.002336.536.573.07.001727.027.0100.0Total63100.0100.0DIFFICULFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid2.0046.36.36.33.001117.517.523.84.002031.731.755.65.00914.314.369.86.001422.222.292.17.0057.97.9100.0Total63100.0100.0-. zREAD

39、INGFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid3.0069.59.59.54.001320.620.630.25.001523.823.854.06.002031.731.785.77.00914.314.3100.0Total63100.0100.0ROTEFrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.0034.84.84.82.002133.333.338.13.001523.823.861.94.001422.222.284.15.00812.712.796.86

40、.0023.23.2100.0Total63100.0100.0Most of the students recognize the importance of learning vocabulary (81 per cent of students choose 5, 6, 7), and reading (70 per cent of students choose 5, 6, 7), yet they do not think it the most difficult to learn, and do not regard rote as an effective way for me

41、mory (62 per cent of students choose 1, 2, 3). From the interview, we know that some students think listening is much more difficult pared with vocabulary. Since the college entrance e*amination has cancelled listening parts for English, students neglect their corresponding practice on this skill.3.

42、2Learning Strategies DescriptionsTable 3: Mother-tongue-reliant strategy resultNO.3FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.0057.97.97.92.0057.97.915.93.00914.314.330.24.003454.054.084.15.001015.915.9100.0Total63100.0100.0NO.4FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.001625.

43、425.425.42.002844.444.469.83.001422.222.292.14.0057.97.9100.0Total63100.0100.0Mother-tongue-reliant memory is helpful to increase the vocabulary, but no significant correlation with the academic results has been shown according to the survey. As for the learners, second language learning isrelativel

44、y difficult, the mother-tongue can help promote the vocabulary memory, but not necessarily promote the level of second language learning. The survey finds that, whether English or non-English majors, they all prefer Chinese to English in memorizing words in practice. Nearly 70% use Chinese to note n

45、ew words while only 8% use English.But relatively speaking, English students do more than non-professional students. At can be seen in independent T sample test.MAJORNMeanStd. DeviationStd. Error MeanNO.41391.9744.9594.15360242.3750.7109.1451It is probably because English students already have a cer

46、tain vocabulary basis, coupled with the professional demands; they know more synonyms to e*plain the new words.Table 4: Initial memory strategy resultNO.13FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.0023.23.23.22.001523.823.827.03.002539.739.766.74.001320.620.687.35.00812.712.7100.0Total63

47、100.0100.0NO.16FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.00812.712.712.72.002844.444.457.13.001727.027.084.14.00914.314.398.45.0011.61.6100.0Total63100.0100.0To remember the words collocations can promote the improvement language skills. If a learner only minds the Chinese meaning of the

48、 corresponding focus without concerning about the collocation and usage thatwill be counterproductive to the results. The Survey shows that 84 percent of students have realized and mind the part of speech of new words, yet only 33% of the students care for collocations of new words.Table 5: Daily ac

49、cumulation strategy resultNO.17FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.00914.314.314.32.002336.536.550.83.002133.333.384.14.00914.314.398.45.0011.61.6100.0Total63100.0100.0Transcribing the word and interpretations when you meet a new word is a good habit. According to previous surveys,

50、it can great promote the accumulation of vocabulary. But 51% of students never or seldom do it, and 33% do it occasionally, only 16% do it often. Maybe it is one of the reasons why many students have a low vocabulary.Table 6: categorizing strategy resultNO.10FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative P

51、ercentValid1.001727.027.027.02.003149.249.276.23.001523.823.8100.0Total63100.0100.0Categorizing memory strategy is also a good way to help students remember the words.According to personal preference, students can divide thewordsinto many categories: animals, plants, birds, bugs, clothing, daily liv

52、es, the worlds politics, sports, and so on. The advantage of the categorizing memory strategy focuses on words prehension and memory. But only a few students do it in daily practice.Table 7: planning strategy resultNO.6FrequencyPercentValid PercentCumulative PercentValid1.001219.019.019.02.002641.34

53、1.360.33.002133.333.393.74.0023.23.296.85.0023.23.2100.0Total63100.0100.0Onlya small proportion of students reviews and consolidates the new word periodically.This shows that most of the students do worse in planning, regulating and managing their learning process.Learning without reviews will not g

54、et good results.3.3 DifferencesStrategyDifferences in Se*Through the survey，we find that different gender have a significant difference in the vocabulary learning strategies use. The girls (girls are labeled0, boys are labeled 1) pay more attention to reading and daily accumulation of words, and pre

55、fer to look up in a dictionary, use image to help memorization, use various strategies to memory and use meta-cognitive strategy to study in a planned way.People generally believe that girls have the gift of strong memory to learn language. Such thinking may bring girls the confidence in learning fo

56、reign language, and then input quite more time and enthusiasm to learning. However, people think that boys are good at logical thinking, and not in memory. The boys may lose interest in English language learning, and even use this as the e*cuse of no hardworking. No wonder why the girls scored highe

57、r than boys in the planning strategy.Independent Samples TesttdfSig. (2-tailed)Mean DifferenceNO.4Equal variances assumed-2.65461.010-.5675NO.1Equal variances assumed-2.81361.007-.7288NO.17Equal variances assumed-3.81861.000-.8407NO.18Equal variances assumed-2.81661.007-.6633NO.7Equal variances assu

58、med-3.46761.001-.8175NO.10Equal variances assumed-3.42961.001-.5726NO.21Equal variances assumed-3.24661.002-.7601NO.5Equal variances assumed-2.16861.034-.5171NO.15Equal variances assumed-2.21761.030-.4839NO.6Equal variances assumed-2.98861.004-.6573Table 8: Result of StrategyDifferences in Se*SE*NMe

59、anStd. DeviationStd. Error MeanNO.61311.9677.7063.12690322.62501.0080.1782NO.141312.67741.1941.21450323.09381.0583.1871Girls score significantly higher in the planning strategy (No. 6), and selective attention strategy (No. 14), therefore we can safely conclude that girls have a better supervision a

60、nd management of their vocabulary learning process. Shi Yao-fang also pointed out that meta-cognition played an overall role of controlling and coordination, their development level constraints other aspects development directly. Wen Qiufang believed it improper to labelany learning strategies as go