Vocabulary Learning Strategy Preferences Among EFL Students: A case study in a highschool in the Mekong Delta

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine the overall use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) among EFL high school learners in a high school in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, named Binh Minh High School. This research also aims to determine the most frequently used strategies in the two stages of English Vocabulary learning (e.g., Discovery Stage and Consolidation Stage) and the reason why EFL high school learners chose those strategies. A mixed methods design was used first with quantitative data followed by qualitative data to provide an in-depth understanding of strategies used among the students. Self-reported questionnaires were used in the first phase of the mixed methods study to collect quantitative data from 219 EFL participants who were selected from 6 classes, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 representatives of each class. The results of the explanatory sequential mixed methods design provided rich, meaningful insights for EFL high school learners on how they choose and apply vocabulary learning strategies to their English studies. It highlighted how vocabulary strategies vary when learners are bilingual and/or from different learning contexts and cultural backgrounds. EFL high school learners have a strong affinity for using social strategies and relying on cooperative learning inside and outside the class to learn and study the meanings of English words in comparison with EFL learners from other cultural backgrounds.