The Different Contribution of Vocabulary Learning Strategies to Students with Varying Vocabulary Size

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of vocabulary learning strategies to the vocabulary size of high and low vocabulary students. To achieve this aim, the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies used by the high and low vocabulary students and their vocabulary size were examined. Two hundred fifty-seven Prince of Songkla University undergraduates, majoring in 6 fields of study, namely, medicine, dentistry, nursing, engineering, accounting, and hospitality and tourism, were the subjects of this research, because of the upcoming establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 and the effect it would have on their future careers. Data collection for this target group included a questionnaire on vocabulary learning strategies, a bilingual English-Thai version of the test for vocabulary size, and a semi-structured interview. The results showed that the strategies for vocabulary development were highly connected to vocabulary size of both high and low vocabulary subjects. Among 39 vocabulary learning strategies, 18 strategies had a significant correlation with the vocabulary size of the high vocabulary subjects and 13 strategies were significantly correlated with the vocabulary size of the low vocabulary subjects. There were 8 vocabulary learning strategies which had a significant correlation with the vocabulary size of both groups.