Title:
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An investigation of factors in vocabulary learning strategies use impacting undergraduate English major's performance on vocabulary tests in Taiwan
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This study investigated the relationship between vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) used by
English major undergraduates and their performance on vocabulary size tests (VLT and PVLT) in
Taiwan. The aims of this research were fourfold : (a) to investigate the overall patterns bf VLS
used by the participants, (b) to explore the correlation between the ten subscales of VLS and
vocabulary size tests, (c) to look into the gender differences of VLS use as associated with their
performance on vocabulary size tests, (d) to find out the incremental growth in vocabulary size
tests among freshmen, sophomore, and junior participants and indentify which subscales were
relevant to the four word levels of vocabulary size tests. The participants included three hundred
and one English major students in the research location who successfully completed a modified
VLS questionnaire along with combined vocabulary size tests for data collection. Data for this
research were then analysed using statistical methods, descriptive statistics, correlation analyses
independent sample t-tests, and linear regression analyses. The research findings shed light on
the identification of the overall patterns of VLS use, the correlation between the VLS and
vocabulary size tests, the gender differences in VLS use and performance on vocabulary size
tests, and the identification of the progress of vocabulary acquisition and strategies relevant to
specific levels of vocabulary size tests. The insights gained in this study may lead to raising the
awareness of the policy makers, the school administrators,and the course designers and the
teaching instructors in the research location who are interested in the relationship between
vocabulary learning strategies used by these English major undergraduates and their
performance on vocabulary size tests.
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