A Study of Vocabulary Learning Strategies of the First and Second Year Students from English Department at PhetchaburiRajabhat University

Abstract

      This research aims to study vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) employed by the first and second-year students from English Department at PhetchaburiRajabhat University. The questionnaire, semi-structured interview. and think-aloud method were used as the instruments to study what VLS that 100 students at the university frequently used to discover the meaning of English vocabulary. The participants were 54 first-tear students and 46 second-year students. There were 16 students (8 first - and 8 second-year students) volunteered to participate in the interview and think-aloud sessions.

          The results, concerning the use of Determination Strategies, Indicated that the majority (98.1%) of the first-year students most frequently consulted an English-Thai dictionary to find the meanings of words, but the use of an English-English dictionary was reported as the least frequently used (5.6%). However, all (100%) second-year students employed the strategy ‘analyse affixes and roots’, in Determination Strategise, to understand the meanings of words most often, while the least often used strategy was the strategy of ‘listen to a tape of word lists’ in Cognitive Strategies (10.9%). In general, the use of VlS reported by the first- and second-year students was significant difference at p<0.05.