Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 84
VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES USED BY
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS AT SATYA
WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, SALATIGA
Devi Irnasari Febria Vinka Kristie
Satya Wacana Christian University
Introduction
Vocabulary is one of the most prominent aspects when studying English for learners
who live in the country which English is a foreign language. For university students
especially English Department student who have to deal with English in their academic life,
they have to work harder to acquire as much as vocabulary as possible. It is because most of
the teachers in this Department deliver their lectures in English language. In addition,
students have to be able to speak, read, write, and listen in English. If their vocabulary
knowledge is low, they would not able to perform well.
One of the language skills that require huge amount of vocabulary is reading. A
research shows, vocabulary skill has a positive correlation with reading comprehension
(Stahl, 1990 as cited in Nation, 2001, p. 144). According to Hazenburg & Hulstijn (1996) ;
Schmitt (2000) as cited in Grabe (2009, p. 271) in order to help L2 reader comprehend
academic texts, they have to require at least 10,000 words. However, this amount cannot
make them comprehend academic text fluently. Compared to American Heritage words list,
learners need 43,831 words to help them understand the text 99 % (Carroll, et al., 1971 as
cited in Grabe 2009, p.271). Regarding to the need of the students on vocabulary knowledge,
teachers often encourage them to use some strategies to learn vocabulary, such as guessing
meaning from the context, to use dictionary to look up for meaning, or encourage them to
read as many as they can. They taught the students about some kinds of strategies because
they are no longer providing the list of vocabulary that students need in every course. At this
stage of learning, students expected to be independent in acquiring their vocabulary knowledge. To increase students‟ skill in vocabulary, they have to know what vocabulary they need, how to obtain, assess and check their vocabulary (Griffith, 2008, p.169).
Vocabulary learning strategies are very important because, students will deal with
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 85 The strategies are needed so that they can acquire vocabulary affectively and know how to
deal with unknown vocabulary when reading a text. As said by Hund and Beglar (1998, cited
in Lay, 2005), it is important to develop independent strategies in order to make acquire the big amount of vocabulary. It is students‟ responsibility to learn vocabulary. Thus, personal strategies are needed by every language learner in order to be succeeded. Oxford (1990, as
cited in Griffiths, 2008, p.8) identified language learning strategies as „specific actions taken
by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situation‟.
Strategies are very important because EFL learners are not familiar with English in their daily life. It is known that EFL‟s vocabulary level does not allow them to engage with English in many frameworks (Barrow et al.,1999; Nurweni and Read 1999 as cited in Hund
&Beglar 2005). Their condition is different with Second Language Learners. According to
Kojic-Sabo and L Brown (1999 as cited in Hund and Beglar, 2005) EFL frequently do not
have enough amount of spoken and written input of vocabulary, the result is they have to
recompense their need of language learning chance.
The students‟ need of vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary learning strategies have led some researchers to investigate the vocabulary learning strategies used by college
students in learning vocabulary. Wei Ming (2007) in her journal reported Chinese-college students‟ strategies in learning English words. The research‟s aims were to recognize the model of vocabulary learning strategies used by Chinese college students‟ varying major studies, and look for the differences of vocabulary strategies used based on self-standard
skilled. Wei found that they whose have high proficiency make use of all vocabulary learning
strategies in well-ordered and well-structured. The similar research was done by Hyoso and
Tabaku (2011). They studied the recognition of post-secondary Albanian EFL students in
relation to the vocabulary learning strategies that they often used and useful for them. In
general, their finding was the participants do not use various types of vocabulary learning
strategies. They abandon other strategies and just look up a new word in bilingual dictionary
because in their opinion using other strategies wasted their time. This research also showed
that high proficiency students used cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies more often than
low proficiency students.
Literature Review
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 86 Knowing a word according to Nation (1990, p. 32) consists of ability to: remember
the meaning of a word when come up with it, and choose the most appropriate meaning based
on its context and build numerous correlation with other connected words. In another book,
Nation (2001, p. 23) also said that, words are linkage to some interconnecting structures and
degrees, as the results, there are some scale of recognizing them and learners ought to be
familiar with any specific word. He asserted that each word has „learning burden‟ or the
amount of attempt to gain the knowledge of it.
The Need of Strategies
To develop vocabulary knowledge, there are many things language learners could do.
Strategies will surely help them to achieve it. Similar to all-purposes learning English
strategies, vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) consist of the methods which learners
employ to the things that they have learnt (Rubin, 1987, p.19 as cited in Shmais, 2003).
Some language experts created taxonomies of strategies in learning vocabulary. As cited in Griffiths (2008, p.84), O‟Malley et al. (1985), grouping 26 strategies into: meta-cognitive, cognitive, and social. While Oxford (1990 as cited in Griffiths, 2008, p.84) divided Strategy
Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) into six groups : memory, cognitive, compensation,
meta-cognitive, affective, and social. Gu and Johnson (1996 as cited in Hyso and Tabaku,
2011) divided strategies into eight categories: belief about vocabulary learning,
metacognitive regulation, guessing, dictionary, note-taking, memory, and activation
strategies. Gu and Johnson (1996 as cited in Notion 2001, p. 225) was done a research to looked into higher learner use of VLS and its connection with learners‟ grade in vocabulary test to grasp the statistical connection between the strategies that were use reported and the
test results.
Much research show that language students apply a number of strategies to learn
language, while the rate and range of utilization differ among learners and depend on some
factors (Chamot & Kupper, 1989 as cited in Shmais, 2003). Many people believe that learners‟ language skill is positively correlated with language learning strategies. It indicates that good language learners organize and mix strategies are efficient manner (Chamot & Kupper, 1989; O‟Malley and Chamot, 1990; Oxford, 1993 as cited in Shmais, 2003). Studies have pointed out that proficient learners appear to use many kinds of strategies in many
situations that the lesser proficient learners do not do. Rossi-Le (1989 as cited in Shmais,
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 87 Kinds of Strategies
There are many kinds of strategies can be used by FLS to learn new vocabulary. The
section below discusses different types of strategies for vocabulary learning.
Managemaent Strategy
According to Rossi-Le (1989), as cited in Shmais (2003) self management strategies is a strategy that is useful for acquiring vocabulary which is done by „planning, evaluation, and formal practice‟. This strategy is regarded as a very important because it regulates the general VLS strategies (Gu and Johnson, 1996 as cited in Wei, 2007).
Guessing Word Meaning
According to Nation (2001, p. 232) learning by inferring words from their context is
very significant in vocabulary. Clarke and Nation (as cited in Notion, 2001, p. 257) proposed „five-steps inductive procedure: (1) choose the unknown word (2) look at the closest context of the word, if it is necessary make the grammar simpler (3) pay attention to the broader
context of its word, and its relationship with adjacent sentence or clause (4) guess (5) check
the guessing word. Fraser (1999 as cited in Notion, 2001, 239) discovered that learner can
maintain vocabulary from guessing meaning if the guessing activity followed by checking a
dictionary. He believed that it would give input in vocabulary development.
Using Dictionary
According to Nation (2008, p. 114), dictionaries is a tool which is used to: help
learner to comprehend the words they found when reading and listening, find new words
learners should require for writing and speaking, and also helps learners memorize words.
There are two types of dictionary: monolingual dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries.
Monolingual dictionaries are dictionaries which used only one language, whereas bilingual
dictionaries written in two language (Nation, 2001, p. 288-289). Dictionary tool is divided
into two; electronic dictionary and printed dictionary. The example of electronic dictionary is
Alfa Link and the other kind is online dictionary.
In a research done by Kuyama and Takeuchi (2004, as cited in Prichard, 2008)
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 88 dictionary. However, even though using online and electronic dictionary is easier, because of
its effortless, the use could alleviate the vocabulary storage (Prichard, 2008).
Note-taking Strategy
Learners might take notes, about the meaning of new words (Gu, 2003) and other
kinds of information which might be considered related to the new words such as, the
example of the sentences which using the newly-learned words. By this note, students may
review what they have learnt.
Encoding Strategy
Encoding is defined by Bernstain et al. (in press) as cited in
http://college.cengage.com/psychology/bernstein/psychology/6e/students/key_terms/ch07.ht
ml as “the process of coding information so that it can be placed in sensory, short-term, or long term memory”. The sections below are the types of encoding.
Mnemonic : According to Nation (1990, p.166), it is a technique used by
learners which done by make an uncommon connection between the form of a
word and its interpretation. For example, when Indonesian learners want to remember the meaning of the word „parrot‟, they connect may it with the Indonesian word which sounds almost similar, „parit‟, which means „a ditch‟. The more attractive and peculiar the image, the more useful it is.
Word formation: Word parts help learner to figure out the meaning of a new
word. According to Nation (2001, p. 100), noticing parts of the words help
them to utilize the word families which they already know. More, this way of
learning assist them to understand new complex words. The strategy occupy
two steps, (1) split the target word into pieces (it entail learners ability to
distinguish prefix and suffix) (2) linked up meaning of the pieces to the
meaning of the word (Nation, 2001, p. 278).
Vocabulary in use: remember the sentence which the new words occur is
necessary to help learners understand the meaning of the word.
Gu (2003) stated that:
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 89
In fact, learning new words from context might well be only the
first step learners employ, and they should carry on, with metacognitive choice of words and treatment, to encode the new
word together with the context where it appears (e.g.,
remembering the word together with the surrounding sentence). Some may even try to create a sentence using the new word and
thus put it back into context (Sanaoui, 1995). Most empirical
studies on contextual learning have compared incidental
vocabulary learning from context with other forms of vocabulary
presentation. Future research can examine how the other forms of contextual encoding (i.e., remembering new words with context, and using a new word in context) relate to other strategies and to learning results.
Activation
Activation strategies in vocabulary learning are strategies which require learners to
use the newly-learnt words in speech and writing (Gu & Johnson, 1996, as cited in Winke &
Abbuhl (no date). By use the newly-learned words in productive activity like speaking and
writing, student would recognized their functions in the context. Students will know the function of a word in grammatical context, for example the word „farm‟ may function as
noun which mean „a land‟ or and function as verb which mean „cultivate‟. Using activation
strategies, it is expected that they can comprehend the vocabulary meaning better.
Rehearsal Strategy (Gu,2003)
According to Gu (2003), rehearsal strategies are the simplest strategies. What learners
do is just choose the new words and then plainly repeat them until they are familiar with
them. Repeating new words can be done by articulate them aloud, silently or write them
several times. A study done by Seibert (1927, as cited in Gu, 2003) investigated the used of
rote rehearsal in three different ways: studying the new words say it aloud several times,
write them down several times, then repeat them silently. The result was, the first way
showed the best result among the other.
Those are the kinds of strategies which can be used by English language learners to acquire vocabulary knowledge. Nation (2001, p. 217) asserted that “learners not only need to know about these strategies, but need to have the skill in using them”. Thus, practice and implement the strategies are important for learners to be succeed in learning vocabulary.
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 90 Based on the discussion above, this study attempted to answer the following question, “What
is the overall picture of vocabulary learning strategies used by the students?”
Method of the Study
Participants
The participants of this study were 96 English Department students divided to four different
groups of academic year: 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008. Twenty were males and seventy six
were females. Mostly, their ages ranged from18 to 22 years old. Few of them were more than
22 years old. Most of the participants have been studying English for 12 years.
Instrument for data collection
The instrument used to obtain the data was a questionnaire adapted from Ming Wei‟s (2007)
research questionnaire. We used 16 items from Ming Wei (2007) and 4 questions made up
based on the classification made by Gu and Johnson (1996 as cited in Nation, 2001, p 217).
The questionnaire contained demographic information such as gender, GPA and their academic group. We classified the strategies based on Gu and Johnson‟s classification of vocabulary learning strategies.
Data collection procedures
The instrument required about 5 minutes to complete and was given to each student directly
when they were in campus. The participants were asked to choose the answer which best
indicated their perceived use of the strategies described in the statement using a Likert Scale
ranging from 1 (never use this strategy) to 5 (I always use this strategy).
Data Analysis Procedures
The data analysis was done descriptively using Excel program to find out the mean scores of
the responses.
Result
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 91
The data showed that the mean of the frequency of strategy use ranged from 2, 4 – 3, 8 with a
mean of 3, 1. This indicates the overall strategies used in medium rate. The most frequently
used strategy was guessing meaning from the context clues with a mean of 3, 8. The lowest
mean of strategy use was management strategy, which was 2, 4.
Dicussion
The ovarall picture of vocabulary learning strategy used by English Departmeant
Sudents, Satya Wacana Christian University shows that the strategies used by students were
at the medium level (mean: 2,6 – 3,7). The guessing meaning strategy had the highest mean
score. From this result we infer that students tended to use strategy (guessing meaning) which
was more practical than other strategies that were simpler and not time consuming. Using this
strategy, the students did not need any tool or preparation. According to Gu and Johnson,
(1996), as cited in Ghazal, no date, learners who use guessing meaning strategies are using
their background knowledge and use linguistic clues like grammatical structures of a sentence
when they guess the meaning of a word.
The result also shows that management strategy had the lowest strategy mean score 2,6.
Management strategy was also one of the strategies which had been examined by Ming Wei
(2007) which also show the low rate of use, whereas Ming believed that management strategy
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
4 3.7
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
2.9
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 92 is important because preparing and organizing learning may influence the general success in
learning vocabulary.
The other strategies had no significant rates difference. The second highest rate was
dictionary use (mean = 3,4). Using dictionaries has many advantages. It can be used for many
purposes: comprehension, production, and learning (Nation, 2001, p.281). And the next lower
strategy use was activation strategy (mean = 3,3). Surprisingly activation was third in the
chart, showing that English Department students did make use of their newly-known word in
the productive activity. It is contrast with the previous finding by Gu & Johnson (1996 as
cited in Wei, 2007) and Wei‟s finding (2007) which using Chinese respondents. Their study
showed that activation was the least strategy among the other strategies. Under rehearsal
strategies in this study, (mean = 3.2), the mean of silent repetition was quite high (mean=3,
4), aloud repetition, 3, 1 and written repetition, 3,0. Looking at the mean, note taking strategy
mean score was 3, 1). However, the mean of encoding was 2, 9 which not really high in use.
The difference among strategies in encoding was not really significant. The most frequently use strategy was “remember sentence in which the word is used to remember the word” (mean = 3, 3). Whereas other strategies were “analyze the structure of a new word” (mean = 2, 8) and “remember a new word by making a mental picture in mind” (mean = 2,5).
Conclusion
Vocabulary is one of the important aspects in learning English as Foreign Language. In
order to help learners be successful in acquiring vocabulary knowledge, they have to be
introduced by many kinds of strategies in learning vocabulary. Like what we have discussed
before that good learners are they who use various kinds of strategy in learning. So, they need
to be trained to use some kinds of strategies in order to be able to find the strategies which fit
each of them for the most.
The result of the study shows that the overall strategies used in medium rate with
guessing meaning from the context clues position as the most frequently used, while
management strategy is the lowest frequent. Based on the result, we can infer that the
students tend to choose the most simple and practical strategy in any situation. Students can
apply guessing meaning strategy everywhere and every time because they do not need any
tool to do this. What they have to do is just guess the meaning of unknown words whenever
and wherever they found them. And they may confirm their guessing later, when they have
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 93 to do some preparation before learning, like planning for the study : what strategy to used and
etc, organizing their notes or things, and so on which require spare time and some tools, like
dictionary, and notebook. However, even though this strategy need complex preparation and
a lot of time, this strategies are believed by some researchers as the key of success in learning
vocabulary, because by managing their learning, they may also use other kinds of strategies
like, dictionary use, rehearsal, activation, guessing meaning, and encoding.
Regarding their need of vocabulary in learning in the English Department, it is important
that teachers encourage them to manage their learning especially learning vocabulary
independently. According to Wei (2007) it is necessary that teachers take bigger parts in students‟ vocabulary acquisition. Teachers could put together vocabulary learning activity with other course and encourage learners to use various kinds of vocabulary especially in
productive skills such as in speaking class and writing class, and more involved in students‟
learning. Wei also mentioned that the essential goal of this learning is students to be
independent learners. Thus, this notion also may lead to the producing of good output of
Research in Teacher Education : What, How, and Why?, November 21-22, 2012, UKSW 94
REFERENCES
Bernstein, D.A., Penner, L.A., Stewart, A.C., Roy, E.J. (in press). Psychology, Sixth Edition. In Cengange Learning. Retrieved from
http://college.cengage.com/psychology/bernstein/psychology/6e/students/key_terms/ ch07.html
Ghazal, L. (n.d.). Learning Vocabulary in EFL Contexts Through Vocabulary Learning Strategies. Novitas Royal: Research on Youth and Language, 1(2), 88-91.
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a Second Language: Moving from Theory to Practice.
United States of America: Cambridge Unversity Press.
Griffiths, C. (Eds.). (2008). Lessons from Good langauge Learners. United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press.
Gu, P.Q. (2003). Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language, Person Task, Context and Strategies. The Electronic Journal for English as a Second Language, 7(2).
Hunt, A., and Beglar, D. (2005). A framework for Developing EFL Reading Vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17(1).
Hyso, K., Tabaku, E. (2011). Important of Vocabulary Teaching to Advanced Foreign Language Students in Improving Reading Comprehension. Problem of Education in 21th Century, 29, 53-62.
Lai, Y.L. (2005). Teaching Vocabulary Learning Strategies Awareness, beliefs, and
Practices. A Survey of Taiwanese EFL Senior High School Teacher. University of
Essex.
Nation,I.S.P.(1990).Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. United States of America:
Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Nation,I.S.P.(2001).Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. United Kingdom:
Cambridge University Press.
Nation,I.S.P.(2008).Teaching vocabulary:Strategies and Techniques. United States of
America: Heinle Cengage Learning.
Nation,P., Moir,J.(2008). Vocabulary and Good Language Learner. In Griffiths (Ed.), Lesson From Good Language Learner (pp.159–173). United Kingdom : Cambridge University Press.
Prichard,C.(2008).Evaluating L2 Readers‟ Vocabulary Strategies and Dictionary Use. Reading in a Foreign Language,20(2),216-231.
Shmais, W.A. (2003). Language Learning Strategy Use in Palestine. The Electronic
Journal for English as a Second Language, 7(2).
Wei, M. (2007). An Examination of Vocabulary Learning of College-Level Learners of English in China. The Asian EFL Journal, 2(2).
Winke, P. M., Abbuhl, R. (n.d). Taking a Closer Look at Vocabulary Learning Strategies: A Case Study of a Chinese Foreign Language Class. Foreign Language Annals, 40 (4), 697-712.
