The Use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies by Thai EFL Learners Studying Vietnamese as a Third Language

Abstract

The present study investigated the use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) by undergraduate Thai EFL students studying Vietnamese as their third language (L3) and examined if there is any relationship between the learners’ strategy use and their success. A five-point Likert-scale questionnaire containing 39 items adapted from Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of VLSs that are classified into five main categories (determination, social, memory, cognitive and metacognitive strategies) was administered to a group of 55 Thai undergraduate students who were taking a basic Vietnamese course for 45 hours. A vocabulary test was also used as another research instrument in order to reveal any correlation between strategy use and vocabulary test results. The descriptive statistics like mean and standard deviation and correlation were used in the study. It was found that Thai EFL learners were moderate strategy users when learning Vietnamese as their L3. Cognitive strategies emerged as the most frequently used ones, and metacognitive strategies were the least frequently used ones. Participants also used different sub-strategies with different levels of frequency. Moreover, there was no significant relationship between the use of strategies and the participants’ success.