Vocabulary Learning Strategy Use and Learning Achievement by Japanese High School EFL learners

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate relationships between the use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) and learning achievement by Japanese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) high school students. Approximately 1,200 students from 15 high schools participated in the survey, which consisted of a questionnaire to ask their VLS use and a C-test to estimate their general learning achievement. The subjects were divided into three (high/mid/low-proficiency) groups by means of a test score. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported three latent variables: organization, repetition, and image strategies, as preceding research states. It was also found that EFL proficiency correlated with the use of strategies: mid- and high-proficiency learners were more likely to use strategies than were low-proficiency students. Also it was found that the mid- and low-proficiency learners use the three strategy types in roughly constant proportions, but high-proficiency learners do not use image strategy in the same proportion as the other two strategies are used. Finally, a detailed description, implications for teaching, and question items are described for the development of vocabulary instruction in the classroom.