VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS) OF HIGH-ACHIEVING INDONESIAN EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS : A descriptive study carried out at one state university in Bandung.

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VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS) OF HIGH-ACHIEVING INDONESIAN EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

(A descriptive study carried out at one state university in Bandung)

A THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirement for a Master Degree in English Education Department, Indonesian University of Education

By

CHAM VICHET NIM 1206810

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES INDONESIA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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Halaman Hak Cipta untuk Mahasiswa S2

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Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) of high-achieving

Indonesian EFL Undergraduate Students

(A descriptive study carried out at one state university in

Bandung)

Oleh CHAM VICHET

S. Pd,UniversitasPendidikan Indonesia, 2014

Sebuah Tesis yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Magister Pendidikan (M.Pd.) pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni

August 2014

Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.

Tesis ini tidak boleh diperbanyak seluruhya atau sebagian,

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APPROVAL SHEET

VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS) OF HIGH-ACHIEVING INDONESIAN EFL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

By: CHAM VICHET

1206810

Approved by: Main Supervisor,

Prof. Dr. Hj. Nenden Sri Lengkanawati, M.Pd NIP 195111241985032001

Co-supervisor,

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DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis which is entitled, “Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) of High-achieving Indonesian EFL Learners: A descriptive study conducted at one state university in Bandung.” is completely my own work. I am fully aware that I have cited certain statements and ideas from other authors and sources, and they are highly and properly acknowledged in the text and references.

Bandung, 11 August 2014

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to express my most profound thanks and deepest gratitude to my supervisor Professor Dr. Hj. Nenden Sri Lengkanawati, M.Pd and co-supervisor Dr. WachyuSundayana, M.A., for their useful advice, guidance and untiring supervision during the period of the research processes. Also, my utmost gratitude goes to my examiners: IwaLukmana, Ph.D and PupungPurnawarman, M. S. Ed., Ph.D, for their valuable feedback and comments that helped make my thesis better.

My heartfelt thanks go as well to the Indonesian government, through the KNB scholarship program, for giving me such priceless chance to pursue my studies in this lovely country and to have known her friendly and helpful people. The program is highly appreciated, and I will always remember this.

I also wish to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. DidiSukyadi, M.A., Dean of English Education and Literature faculty and Prof. Hj. Emi Emilia, M. Ed., Ph.D., Head of Postgraduate School of English Education Program and several other lecturers in English Education department whose courses helped build up my knowledge in the field of TEFL. I am also thankful to all the people in the Academic Department and International Office, whose names are not mentioned here, for their administrative assistance and facilitation during my stay and study in Indonesia.

I also owe my debts to Ibu Nia Nafisah, S. S., M.PddanIbu Lulu LaelaAmalia, S. S., M.Pd, for having permitted me to collect data in their classes, and their students who sacrificed their valuable time for filling out the questionnaires. Without such cooperation, it would have been impossible to get data for completing this thesis.

Also, I heartily thank my international and Cambodian friends in Bandung as well as my classmates for their direct and indirect assistance and companion in time of both happiness and hardship.

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Cham Vichet, 2014

Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Vls) Of High-Achieving Indonesian Efl Undergraduate Students

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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2.2 Language Learning Strategies ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2.1 Definitions of Language Learning Strategies ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.2.2 Factors influencing Language Learning StrategiesError! Bookmark not defined.

2.3 Characteristics of Good Learners ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4 Vocabulary Learning and Teaching ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.1 Vocabulary... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.2 Importance of Vocabulary Learning ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.3 How Many Words a Learner Needs for the Four Language Skills?Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.4.4 Which Word Needs to Be Learned?... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.4.5 Teaching Vocabulary – Practical guidelines ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.5 Vocabulary Learning Strategies ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.1 Classifications of Vocabulary Learning StrategiesError! Bookmark not defined.

2.5.1.1 Gu and Johnson’s Taxonomy ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.1.2 Nation’s Taxonomy ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.5.1.3 Schmitt’s (1997) Taxonomy ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.6 Related Research on Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) ... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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CHAPTER III ... Error! Bookmark not defined. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Research Design ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Research Site ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.3 Subjects ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4 Research Instrument ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.1 Preparation ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.2 Questionnaire Construction ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.4.3 Details of Questionnaire ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.5 Procedures of Data Collection ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.6 Data Analysis ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.7 Concluding Remark ... Error! Bookmark not defined. CHAPTER IV ... Error! Bookmark not defined. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 Findings ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1.1 Frequently used Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS)Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1.2 Reasons for the preferred vocabulary learning strategiesError! Bookmark not defined.

4.2 Discussion of findings ... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1 Frequently used Discovery VLS and Reasons... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES (VLS) OF HIGH-ACHIEVING INDONESIAN EFL LEARNERS

ABSTRACT

The main purposes of this research are to: 1). investigate frequently used vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) by high-achieving Indonesian EFL undergraduate students at one state university and 2). find out the reasons for their preference of VLS. The purposively selected subjects were 55 students who majored in English language and English education at the department of English education of one state university in Bandung. A 27-item questionnaire, with Cronbach’s alpha (.792) and which was adapted from Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy for VLSQ along with open questions was used as the main research instrument. The findings showed that the respondents were medium vocabulary learning strategies users (mean = 2.8634). In addition, Determination and Memory strategies were the most frequently used VLS.

Key word: Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS)

ABSTRAK

Tujuanutamadaripenelitianiniadalahuntuk: 1). menyelidikistrategi-strategipembelajarkosa kata(VLS) yang seringdigunakanolehmahasiswa EFL Indonesia berprestasi di salahsatuuniversitasnegeridan 2). mengetahuialasanuntukpreferensi VLS mereka. Subyek yang

dipilihdengansengajaadalah 55 siswa yang

mengambiljurusanbahasaInggrisdanpendidikanbahasaInggris di departemenpendidikanbahasaInggrisdi salahsatuuniversitasnegeri di Bandung. Sebuahkuesioner 27-item, dengan alpha Cronbach (0,792) dan yang diadaptasidari

(1997) taksonomi Schmitt

untuk(VLSQ)bersamadenganpertanyaanterbukadigunakansebagaiinstrumenpenelitian utama.

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Vocabulary Learning Strategies (Vls) Of High-Achieving Indonesian Efl Undergraduate Students

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the background and the rationale of this study of vocabulary learning strategies. It then states the purpose of the research and the research questions which are then followed by the scope of the study. The chapter then provides the significance of research and the operational definition of key term. Plus, acronyms of important words are provided as well so that readers will find it easy to go through the work. The chapter ends with outlining the organization of the whole thesis.

1.1 Background of the Study

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Even though vocabulary has always been a crucial part of language learning and teaching and communication, it is said that vocabulary teaching has not been receptive to problems in the area, and most language teachers have not fully recognized the great communicative advantage in developing an extensive vocabulary (McCarthy 1990:45). Vocabulary often seems to be the least systematized and the least well-catered for of all the aspects of learning a foreign language, such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, or even pronunciation. Generally, vocabulary learning and teaching is seen as an integrated skill only in the EFL curriculum, either in Indonesia or non-native speakers of English countries such as Cambodia, Thailand or Vietnam. It is quite difficult to find isolate vocabulary teaching courses. Consequently, vocabulary competence of EFL learners, also resulted from poor vocabulary learning strategies and vocabulary teaching time allocation, can be poor and can affect their communicative competence.

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researchers (Scrivener, 1994). English learners are often able to communicate in English by using the accumulative meaning of each single word.

Hedge (2000) affirms that there is usually lack of attention to vocabulary. She gives a notable reason for the neglect of vocabulary that learners themselves do not place considerable significance on vocabulary. Language teachers have been very familiar with new discoveries in English grammar learning and teaching, whilst at the same time they have heard little about good ways to help students learn new words (as cited in Siriwan, 2007:60). Moreover, some past specialists in teaching methodology seemed to believe that the meanings of words could not be adequately taught, so it is better not to try to teach them (Allen, 1983:1-4). This means that EFL learners themselves should learn how to learn English vocabulary on their own, without solely relying on their teachers.

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Burden (1997:145), point out that strategies are essential tools for developing communicative competence. Appropriate language learning strategies result in improved proficiency and greater self-confidence. Similarly, regarding vocabulary learning, it is not easy for all language learners to learn and acquire the meanings of new words, to store them in their memory and recall them at will, to use them in appropriate situations, or to expand their vocabulary size. Therefore, in order to help learners to learn vocabulary successfully and become self-directed learners of vocabulary, they must be taught and appropriately trained to use various kinds of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). To be precise, they must learn different appropriate strategies for coping with unknown or unfamiliar words.

In this context, the most cited research on vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) is that of Gu and Johnson’s (1996) study on Chinese EFL learners by comparing the frequency of their VLS use with their belief of vocabulary learning, level of vocabulary development and learning success. The results were obtained from 91-statement Vocabulary Learning Questionnaire (VLQ, version 3) formulated by Gu and Johnson. The findings revealed that Chinese EFL learners see vocabulary learning as active, requiring and conscious, as opposed to presupposition that they prefer mechanical memorization strategy. Cognitive and metacognitive strategies such as guessing from context and using dictionary for learning were found as the most useful among those learners, whereas strategy of retention was regarded as least useful. Furthermore, they also found out that there were five groups of learners due to their favorite approaches or strategies: readers, active strategy users, non-coders, coders and passive strategy users.

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languages are very different. His achievement from the study and examination of Oxford’s (1990) work and of Stöffer’s (1995) study is the development of comprehensive 53-strategy VLS questionnaire which is then divided into two main categories: Strategies for discovering new words and strategies for consolidating words. His VLS questionnaire taxonomy was adapted and used as a tool in a survey study of VLS of Thai gifted EFL students by Riankamol (2008).

Although several studies have been conducted concerning VLS of EFL learners in many countries such as Iran, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan Japan, and Thailand, the researcher, to the best of his knowledge, could hardly encounter research targeting VLS of Indonesian EFL students, but the findings which show the obstacles in using English among some high school graduates and college students owing to poor vocabulary competence (Lengkanawati, 2005; Ivone, 2005; Lie, 2007; Marcellino, 2008 and Mattarima & Hamdan, 2011). These researchers claimed that Indonesian EFL learners, though taught English since secondary school level till tertiary educational level, still have problems in using this language productively and communicatively. One of the roots of such challenges is the lack of potential vocabulary knowledge. These students often make mistakes regarding forms of words, choices of formal or informal words as well as how to use words appropriately. As a consequence, their products of language, either spoken or written, can convey vague meaning or messages (Lengkanawati, 2005).

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means that vocabulary competence of an EFL learner cannot be achieved by chance, but rather it results from any individual strategy use in learning English vocabulary. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct an investigation on vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by high achieving Indonesian EFL undergraduate students in the purpose of finding out what strategies frequently used by this group of participants and reasons behind their use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS).

The research findings were meant to contribute, to some extent, to raise an awareness of importance of English vocabulary as well as vocabulary learning strategies in the conditions that there is no enough time allocation in language classroom for vocabulary learning and teaching and that EFL students should be independent vocabulary learners and to serve a good example for low-achieving learners by means of illustrating the strategies frequently employed by high achievers. As such, the study aimed to revealing the VLS frequently employed by the targeted respondents.

1.2 Objective of the Study

As clearly stated in the aforementioned background of the study, the study aimed at investigating the vocabulary learning strategies which are frequently used by high achieving (good) Indonesian EFL undergraduate students who were majoring in English literature and English education programs at one state university in Bandung by following Schmitt’s (1997) Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS).

1.3 Statement of the Problem

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Indonesian is that students lack particular vocabulary knowledge which can influence students’ reading comprehension. According to Granowsky (2002), many researchers have agreed upon the importance of vocabulary knowledge in students’ reading comprehension, and therefore in their school success (cited in Riankamol, 2008). Also, having limited vocabulary knowledge, students are not able to express well and communicate fluently. To overcome such challenges in building up vocabulary ability, researchers such as Meara (1987), Rubin (1987, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) and Oxford (1990) contended with learning strategies shall be taught to learners in order that they can learn independently, as a complement to classroom learning.

Due to above mentioned statement of problem, importance of vocabulary in English language acquisition and the advantages of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS), the study tends to find out the vocabulary learning strategies frequently used by good Indonesian EFL undergraduate students by answering the research questions which have been formulated as follows:

1. What are the vocabulary learning strategies frequently

used by high achieving Indonesian EFL undergraduate students? 2. What are the reasons for the preferences of those VLS?

1.4 Scope of the Study

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1.5 Significance of the Study

As mentioned above, it is expected that the findings of this study are most likely to provide both theoretical and practical significances in terms of students’ VLS and vocabulary learning/teaching process.

1. Theoretically, the research can reveal the most frequently used vocabulary learning strategies employed by the targeted English majoring students along with the reasons behind their choices of VLS use. Having knowledge of their preferred VLS use enables future researchers to conduct more in-depth or comparative studies concerning VLS use by EFL learners in Indonesia or other countries where English is considered as a foreign language.

2. Pedagogically, the teachers can benefit from the findings of this study in order to support the vocabulary learning of the students, as it is a core component to mastering the four macro language skills. Having the knowledge of frequently used vocabulary strategies by high-achieving students, teachers can set examples for low-achieving students through peer learning of vocabulary strategies or teacher’s training of how to use vocabulary learning strategies properly and effectively. Plus, encouraging and training learners to use VLS can help motivate Indonesian EFL learners to be independent in vocabulary learning and to enhance their linguistic competence, which is in accordance with what Schmitt (2000) claim that teachers cannot afford to allocate enough time to teach students all aspects of vocabulary items and that students have to independent word learners through training of VLS use.

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or learn to use those vocabulary learning strategies by themselves. The more they practice, the more they can become self-directed learners.

1.6 Definition of Key Term

Vocabulary learning strategies: a process or technique that students use to help them succeed in vocabulary learning (Cameron, 2001: 92) and in building up vocabulary knowledge which refers to ability in translating and interpreting the meanings of words, as well as, the ability in using those words. In this study, vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) refers to “any set of techniques or learning behaviors, which language learners reported using in order to discover the meaning of a new word, to retain the knowledge of newly-learned words, and to broaden one’s knowledge of vocabulary” (Intaraprasert 2004:53). In the context of the present investigation, “VLS” will sometimes be used as the abbreviation for vocabulary learning strategy.

1.7 Acronyms

1. SOC : Social strategies 2. MEM : Memory strategies 3. DET : Determination strategies 4. MET : Metacognitive strategies 5. COG : Cognitive strategies

6. LLS : Language Learning Strategies 7. VLS : Vocabulary Learning Strategies

1.8 Concluding Remark

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used throughout the thesis were also shown in this chapter, for readers can understand better the concepts of this work.

1.9 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis was organized into five chapters:

Chapter one introduces the research background, and explains the importance and the purpose of the present study. It also provides information about the research questions, acronym and definitions of key term used in the whole work

Chapter two is a review of the most recent literature in the field of vocabulary learning. More importantly, it explains the importance of the vocabulary, vocabulary learning and teaching as well as taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) by Oxford (1991), Schmitt (1997) and Nation (2001).

Chapter three of this thesis discusses the research methodology which encompasses the approach and method used, research site, participants, instrument and data analysis methods.

Chapter four presents and discusses the results of questionnaire, with regards to frequently used vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) by the respondents and their accompanying reasons for the chosen VLS.

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology used in collecting data for this survey study. In the first part of this chapter, details of the subjects are illustrated. Secondly, how and why participants are to be chosen will be described. Apart from the data collection procedure, process of how the questionnaires will be distributed is also included. Finally, data analysis tool is presented a long with how the data obtained from the questionnaire are analyzed.

3.1 Research Design

The present study was intended to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) frequently used by good Indonesian EFL undergraduate students, based on their existing high Grade-point average (GPA) used to categorize good language learners. Due to this fact, the researcher adopted Ex-post facto research design, which is usually used to try to understand hidden meaning of possible antecedents of events that have happened and which cannot be controlled, engineered or manipulated by the investigator (Cooper and Schindler 2001, cited in Cohen, Manion and Morrison; 2007). Ex post facto research is particularly suitable in social, educational and – to a lesser extent – psychological contexts where the independent variable or variables lie outside the researcher’s control. With the use of this design, the researcher can report only what has happened or what is happening, by trying to hold factors constant by careful attention to the sampling. Therefore, ex-post facto design was considered appropriate for this study, for it did not conduct empirical experiment.

Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007: 265-268) pointed out several advantages of this research approach as follows.

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smoking and lung cancer, for instance, this cannot be tested experimentally (at least as far as human beings are concerned).

 The method yields useful information concerning the nature of phenomena – what goes with what and under what conditions. In this way, ex post facto research is a valuable exploratory tool.

 Improvements in statistical techniques and general methodology have made ex post facto designs more defensible.

 In some ways and in certain situations the method is more useful than the experimental method, especially where the setting up of the latter would introduce a note of artificiality into research proceedings.

 Ex post facto research is particularly appropriate when simple cause-and-effect relationships are being explored.

 The method can give a sense of direction and provide a fruitful source of hypotheses that can subsequently be tested by the more rigorous experimental method.

In accordance with the aims of the research which intends to find out the frequently used vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) by high achieving Indonesian undergraduate students, qualitative approach was employed in this study. According to Cresswell (1998:181-182), “qualitative method is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem by developing a complex and holistic pictures formed with words and by reporting detailed views

of informants from the natural settings.” Similarly, qualitative approach can also allow researcher to deeply understand the social phenomena through the use of various data collection methods (Silverman, 2005).

This study also has characteristics of a case study because of the limited number of participants who were involved in. A case study allows the research to

be carried out in small scale and of researcher’s interest without any attempt to

make generalization or to build theories (Stake, 2000 as cited in Silverman, 2005:127).

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and the personal investment is not costly, compared with expense on interview (Dörnyei 2003:09). Questionnaire is famous for its anonymity of respondents and valuable information if constructed well.

This design thus used, along with close items, open-ended questionnaire items in anticipation that participants could provide more detailed and free responses, without distraction of quantitative items.

3.2 Research Site

The present research was carried out in the English department at one state university in Bandung, West Jawa province. High accessibility to the research participants was the reason why the place was chosen for the study. Since the researcher has known some undergraduate program lecturers, he could gain access to site and was permitted to three classes in English education program and English literature.

3.3 Subjects

The subjects involved in this study were 55 undergraduate students in their semester 2 of academic year 2013-2014 at the English department of Indonesian university of Education (UPI). The respondents, whose duration of English learning ranges from 5 to 10 years, were taking Reading and Speaking Skills courses for English Education program and English Literature program. Out of 55 participants, there were 41 female informants. All the research subjects attained

their semester 1 GPA ≥ 3, which accords with the purpose of the research

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influences listening and reading skills. It means that if language learners possess great deal of vocabulary knowledge, they will find it easy to learn or acquire other language skills. In addition, Nation (1999) argued that good language learners are medium or high strategies users: they tend to adopt a variety of learning strategies in order to facilitate their learning process and to retain their memory. Accordingly, it is worth researching the vocabulary learning strategies of these targeted respondents, as they have necessary qualifications to help the researcher achieve the goal of this study.

3.4 Research Instrument

The study adopted ex-post facto design in order to investigate the frequently used VLS of good Indonesian undergraduate students. As the name investigation suggests, the method used in this research was qualitative which aimed to describe the information obtained. In line with research method, the instrument used in this research was a 27-item questionnaire based on Schmitt’s (1997) Taxonomy. It was designed specifically for the purpose of this study.

There are more or less 56 strategies from 6 categories in Schmitt’s Taxonomy. Nonetheless, only 27 strategies were adopted in the questionnaire due to some limitation and appropriateness. For instance, in the Determination category, there are 3 strategies about using a dictionary that may confuse the respondents; thus, they were grouped into 1 question.

Another cut-off strategy in this category was “Analyze supra-segmental

features” which was deemed unsuitable for the respondents’ learning level.

3.4.1 Preparation

In preparation for designing the questionnaire for this study, the researcher studied the content of learning strategies, vocabulary learning strategies, and how to construct a questionnaire from many sources: textbooks, journals, other research studies and by consulting the Academic Advisor. The questionnaire for

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it is one of the most comprehensive lists of strategies available and it matched

with the researcher’s purpose of the study.

However, modifications were made in order to suit the subjects’ background

knowledge, competence level, and learning environment.

3.4.2 Questionnaire Construction

The questionnaire employed in this research was constructed by the

researcher with some adaptations from Schmitt’s (1997) questionnaire presented

in his taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies. The information from the preparation step was used in the process of designing the questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted with 10 students who resembled the actual research subjects. Items that were problematic were removed. Questionnaires in English language and in Bahasa Indonesia were constructed and revised under the guidance of the supervisors.

3.4.3 Details of Questionnaire

The vocabulary learning strategy questionnaire consisted of TWO parts as follows:

Part I: The respondents’ personal information

The first part is designed to collect information concerning the students’

general background information. Data in this section includes the respondents’

details about their age, gender, major, and duration of studying English language the respondents have had as well as their average grade in English. The questions in this part are in the form of check list items.

Part II: The questionnaire about students’ use of vocabulary learning

strategies.

The 27-item questionnaires asked about the frequency of the use of vocabulary learning strategies implemented by students. The following scales are used to indicate the frequency of the usage of each strategy:

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3 = sometimes use it 4 = often use it 5 = always use it

3.5 Procedures of Data Collection

The first step was a review of literature about language learning strategies to overview and familiarize. The questionnaires in English language were used to collect data. They consisted of 27 items classified by six types of strategies, which were adapted from the vocabulary learning strategy classification based on

Schmitt’s Taxonomy (1997): Determination, Social (Discovery), Social

(Consolidation), Memory, and Cognitive in order to make them suitable for the subjects of the study.

The questionnaire was pilot tested with 10 similar samples on 30th June 2014 and the result of reliability was shown as follows.

Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha

Cronbach's Alpha Based on

Standardized

Items N of Items

.797 .795 27

The questionnaires were administered to all respondents within one class session. The 27-item questionnaires were introduced by the researcher. The respondents were also told that they should answer in terms of how well the explanations of each item describe them. The completed questionnaires were collected right after the respondents had completed them.

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3.6 Data Analysis

Microsoft Excel 2013 and SPSS 16 for windows were used to analyze the data obtained from part II of the questionnaires. The descriptive statistics were employed to find frequencies, percentage, and means of responses in the questionnaires of the six strategy categories: the Determination, the Social (Discovery), the Social (Consolidation), the Memory, the Cognitive and the Metacognitive.

In addition, the following tables were used as a guidance in data finding arrangement so that interpretation can be clearer and more comprehensible.

a. Mean of all Vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) Use Categories of Strategies Mean (X̅)

Determination (DET) Social (Discovery) Social (Consolidation)

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b. Determination Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never

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c. Social (Discovery) Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

Mean

F % F % F % F % F %

4. I ask the teacher to translate the words into bahasa Indonesia. 5. I ask the teacher to put an unknown word into a sentence to help me understand the word meaning. 6. I ask my classmate for meaning. 7. I know some new words when working in group.

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d. Social (Consolidation) Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

Mean e. Memory Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu when learning

words.

(N = 55)

f. Cognitive Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

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(N = 55)

g. Metacognitive Strategy Frequency and Percentage in each item

Item

Degree of Frequency

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Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia | repository.upi.edu | perpustakaan.upi.edu found when

reading or listening. I skip them.

26. I use on-line exercise to test my vocabulary knowledge.

(N = 55)

3.7 Concluding Remark

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

This last chapter of thesis concludes the whole study by providing concluding remarks, suggestions based on the discussion in chapter 4, and ideas for further research in this area of study focus.

5.1 Conclusion

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5.2 Suggestions

As revealed in the present study, the significance related to vocabulary learning strategies and to training students in those strategies they lack may have the following implications for EFL teachers/lecturers:

1. Teachers should think of ways to provide less successful learners with vocabulary learning strategies. This should be done by making them aware of the need to become independent learners by recognizing the strategies

they possess and those they lack. Learner’s attention should also be

directed toward the strategies successful learners benefit from, as their stories of success can be followed by other learners. EFL teachers should get learners to practice a wide range of vocabulary learning strategies ranging from decontextualized and mechanical strategies to contextualized ones. This enables learners to deal with any unknown vocabulary they may encounter both in and out of class context.

2. Teachers need to bear in mind that individual learners may vary on the basis of which strategies they consider more useful and they apply more frequently. Thus, teachers may first need to have an appreciation of

learner’s belief regarding vocabulary learning strategies and then try to help them gradually realize the value of other types of strategies.

3. Pedagogically, teachers or college lecturers may take advantages from the findings by providing in-class training of vocabulary learning strategies use to students. For instance, they can teach learners to use guessing strategies through reading practices. Plus, training students to use monolingual or bilingual dictionaries appropriately and skillfully is necessary because they can carefully study all aspects of each word. 5.3 Concluding Remark

Learning new vocabulary can be challenging to foreign language students at all levels of studies, but they can overcome by having access to a variety of vocabulary learning strategies. Learners should then be trained in strategies they

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to receive trainings and think of the most appropriate way to introduce the strategies. In addition, students themselves should realize that vocabulary learning in class in never enough, as time allocation is primarily focused on other macro skills. It is therefore recommended that they themselves seek to adopt any vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) to learn and retain memory of English vocabulary by themselves or with friends outside classroom so that they become independent vocabulary learners and so that they can enhance their vocabulary competence, which is crucial in acquiring other language skills.

5.4 Further research

As seen from chapter 3 of this thesis, the study was carried out with a relatively small samples, and the main instrument used was mainly the VLS

questionnaires adapted from Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy. Even though,

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