Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Undergraduate EFL Iranian Students

This study investigates the various vocabulary learning strategies used by undergraduate EFL Iranian students at Yazd University. Five categories of the vocabulary learning strategies (Memory, Determination, Social, Cognitive, and Metacognitive) were used in this study following Schmitt’s taxonomy. For this purpose, a questionnaire containing forty items selected from Schmitt’s (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire was administered to 25 Iranian students majoring in English Language and Literature from Yazd University. This testing instrument was used to reveal the types of vocabulary learning strategies used by the participants, to discover the most and least frequently used vocabulary learning strategies employed by male and female students. The finding of the study revealed that the most frequently-used VLS by both male and female groups was Metacognitive strategies. Also, the least frequently-used VLS by both male and female groups was cognitive strategies. However, there was no significant difference between Iranian male and female EFL learners in terms of the use of vocabulary learning strategies.

Keywords:

EFL Learners , Gender , Vocabulary Learning Strategies , Schmitt’s Taxonomy , Metacognitive Strategies , Cognitive Strategies