T1 112010042 Full text
VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF STUDENTS IN
ECONOMIC INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM
Introduction
Vocabulary is considered as one of the important elements in comprehending the
lesson, especially in learning foreign language. Heidari et al. (2012) stated that vocabulary
is the core of language and the cornerstone of language students (p. 1488). Through
comprehending foreign words, students will be able to understand the meaning of the
words. Wessels (2011) stated, “Vocabulary knowledge is essential to students’ academic
success. If students do not understand the meaning of the words in the text, they will have
difficulty understanding the content” (p. 46). Therefore, comprehending the meaning of the
words will help the students understand the materials and reading texts.
The vocabulary of English as foreign language is seen as a significant component
for foreign students, especially for students of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) since
they will often find specialized English words in their program. Harding (2011) explained
that vocabulary is crucial in ESP because students will meet many technical or specialized
words which are used to explain materials in their specialism (p. 53). Hence, understanding
the meaning of the words could help the students comprehending the lessons.
In order to achieve their future goal which is to succeed in their specialism, they
need VLSs to increase their vocabulary knowledge and understand the materials. As what
has been stated by Ghazal (2007) that VLSs can make the learners increase their
knowledge of various target language vocabularies (p. 90). Moreover, English is the
medium of instruction in ESP class, so comprehending the vocabulary can help the
students to understand the lessons and succeed in their specialism. Akbari (2011) stated,
English facilitates ESP students to achieve their future goals (p. 7).
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VLSs are important for ESP students because VLSs do not only help the students
to understand new words and increase their vocabulary knowledge but also vocabulary
learning strategies could make the students to be independent learners. However, some
ESP programs do not provide special class teaching about technical vocabulary. In this
situation, the students cannot always rely on their teachers. Therefore, they need to find
their own strategies to cope with unknown words independently in order to make them
understand about the materials given. This condition is experienced by students of
Economic International Program in Satya Wacana Christian University.
Hence, the present study aimed to find answer of what are the vocabulary learning
strategies used by Economic International Program students in learning specialized
vocabulary. Therefore, the objective of the study was to explore what the vocabulary
learning strategies which are used by Economic International Program students in learning
specialized vocabulary.
This present study could be useful for EFL students, especially ESP students
who find problems in comprehending specialized vocabulary. Furthermore, this study
could be used by ESP teachers as a reference to help the learners who find difficulties in
understanding the meaning of vocabulary in ESP context. As what Kafipour and Naveh
(2011) stated that through knowing the types of vocabulary learning strategies, the teacher
can teach VLS to the students in order to help them deal with ESP vocabulary (p. 628).
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Literature Review
This section discusses the definition of vocabulary learning strategies, the
relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and ESP, the types of vocabulary
learning strategies, and VLS research in ESP.
Defining Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Vocabulary learning strategies are more than comprehending new vocabulary.
According to Asgari and Mustapha (2011), vocabulary learning strategies are stages taken
by the learners in learning new words (p.85). It means that when the students find new
English words in their learning process, they need to take an action in order to understand
the words so that they can understand the materials they learn. However, VLS is not only
about how the learners learn new vocabulary but it is also about how they keep the words
in their long-term memories and be able to use and produce the words in the appropriate
context as stated by Ruutments (2005) cited in Jurcovic (2006). Gu (2003) added that
“Knowing a word means knowing at least its form, its meaning, and its basic usage in
context receptively and productively” (p. 75). It indicates that the scope of vocabulary
learning strategies is not merely about comprehending new words but it covers broader
aspects.
Vocabulary learning strategies help EFL learners to achieve their learning goals
and make them to be independent learners. Ghazal (2007) stated that VLS is a way to make
the learners improve their knowledge of various target language vocabularies (p. 90).
Through mastering vocabulary, the learners will be able to deal successfully with materials
and tasks given in the target language (Ghazal, 2007, p. 90). Based on Ghazal’s idea, using
strategies for learning vocabulary can help the students gaining their learning goals since
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by comprehending the vocabulary, the learners will be able to understand the materials
given. Moreover, vocabulary is seen as the basic element of language. It shows that
without knowing the words, the students cannot be able to name things, concepts, and so
on. As what has been stated by Ghazal (2007) “Vocabulary is central to language and is of
great significance to language learners. Words are the building blocks of a language since
they label objects, actions, ideas without which people cannot convey the intended
meaning.“ (p. 84). VLSs do not only help the learners achieving their learning goals, VLS
can also accustom the students to be independent learners. By applying vocabulary
learning strategies, the students can manage and monitor their own learning process
without depending all the time on the teacher’s help as explained by Nation (2001, p. 222).
In other words, independent learning encourages the students to be more responsible for
their language learning process.
Types of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
There are many researchers who provide taxonomies of vocabulary learning
strategies such as Nation (1990, 2001) and Schmitt (1997) but the present study used
Schmitt’s taxonomy as the basis while another theory was used as a support. Schmitt’s
theory (1997) is well-known and mostly used as the basic theory of many vocabulary
learning strategy researchers. In general, Schmitt (2000) divided the strategies into two
major groups: strategies which are used to discover the meaning of new words and
strategies which are used to recall the known vocabulary (p. 135). Schmitt (2000) also
classified the strategies into several specific groups (p. 134-136):
1.
Determination strategies (DET): individual strategies which are used to understand
the meaning of the words without any help from others such as guessing context,
guessing from L1 cognate, using reference materials such as dictionaries, analyzing
affixes and roots, and using dictionaries to convey a particular word. The strategies
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which belong to this type are commonly used to find the meaning of new words than
recalling the words which have already known.
2.
Social strategies (SOC): Social strategies are different with DET strategies.
Strategies which belong to this type will involve interaction with others in learning
the new words such as asking the teacher or classmates. Social strategies do not only
work in discovering new vocabulary but SOC also can be used to remember the
words known by the students such as studying meaning with friends or practicing to
use the words with native speaker. Thus, the key note of this type is involving
interaction.
3.
Memory strategies (MEM):
These strategies are also commonly known as
mnemonics strategies. The strategies are used to recall vocabulary which has already
known. In these strategies, learners will relate their previously learned knowledge
with the target words by grouping the words according to its form or topic, forming
imaginary, using physical action, connecting new word to past experience, studying
the spelling of the words and speaking out loud the words while studying them.
4.
Cognitive strategies (COG): These strategies are similar to Memory strategies but
they do not really focus on the mental process. Cognitive strategies emphasize more
on the mechanical means to comprehend the known words. Thus, strategies in
Cognitive engage repetition and tools to learn vocabulary. Strategies which belong to
COG are repeating words verbally and written, making words lists, and labeling
English words on physical objects.
5.
Metacognitive strategies (MET): Strategies where the learners consciously decide the
best way to plan, monitor, and evaluate the strategies to study the words. The
learners using metacognitive strategies will decide which words they will focus and
learn deeper. The learners also try to check their understanding by doing word tests.
The examples of metacognitive strategies are using English-language media,
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skipping or passing new word, continuing to study the words all over the time, and
test oneself by using word tests or games.
Another theory of VLS is the theory from Nation (2001). He classified the type of
VLSs into three: planning, sources, and process. Nation (2001) explained that the first
classification is planning. Planning is about deciding of what words and aspect are being
focused, how to focus, and how often to focus on the vocabulary studied (p.218). In this
stage, the learners will decide what kind of words they will study (academic, technical or
high-low frequency words), what aspects and strategies they want to focus, and how often
they want to use the strategies (p.219).
The second classification is sources. In this stage, students start to use strategies to
understand new vocabulary by gathering any information related to the words (Nation,
2001, p. 219). When the students in this stage, they start to find sources in order to
understand the new words by analyzing the word parts such as using knowledge in affixes
and root (Nation, 1990; p.168), guessing meaning from the context, consulting references
to peers, teachers, glossary, or dictionaries, and connecting their first and target language
to understand the words (Nation, 2001, p.120).
The third classification is process. It provides ways of how to remember and use
the vocabulary appropriately (p. 221). Nation (2001) divided this major into three subunits:
noticing, retrieving, and generating. Noticing is when the learners see the vocabulary as
something to be learnt. The strategies which are involved here are listing vocabulary,
making flashcard or the students can repeat the words orally and visually. Retrieving is
when the learners recall the words which they have already met (p.221). In this part, the
learners remember the same words again and again (p. 80). The last subunit is generating.
In this strategy, the learners will produce a sentence and collocation using word they learn
in the new context, using mnemonic strategies, and analyze the word and so on. (Nation,
2001; p. 222).
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VLS and English for Specific Purpose
Vocabulary learning strategies have contribution in helping ESP students to
cope with their ESP learning process. As what has been explained above, vocabulary
learning strategies could help the learners to understand materials and activities in foreign
language (Ghazal, 2007, p.90). This also happens in ESP context where VLSs help the
students to understand the materials to achieve their goals. Akbari (2011) stated, “ESP
students learn English as a means to achieve their subject-specific and ultimately their
occupational goals.” (p. 7). It indicates that English in ESP context becomes an important
tool for the students in dealing with their future goals. Moreover, the usage of English as a
medium of International communication nowadays has made English widely used in many
subjects such as technology, science, economics, and so on (Floris, 2013, p.4). Based on
that situation, it is crucial that ESP students need VLSs to help them comprehend the
vocabulary in their specialism to convey its meaning. Moreover, most of the vocabulary
found in their specialism is technical vocabulary. This kind of vocabulary only exists in a
certain context but it does not commonly exist in other contexts as stated by Hutchinson
and Waters (2006) and Nation (2001, 2008).
VLS Research in ESP context
Some studies related to VLS in ESP context have been conducted. One of
them is a study conducted by Lessard-Clouston (2008). One of the aims of this study was
to explore what kinds of vocabulary learning strategies were used by native and non native
English students of Christian Graduate School of Theology in Canada. This study involved
6 students of non native English speakers and 5 students of native English speakers. To
gain the results of the study, a test of Theological Language was done before a
questionnaire and interview were conducted. The result of the study shows that the
participants used VLSs such as consulting to dictionary and glossary, practicing new words
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in paper, taking written notes in class, written listing vocabulary, listing words in computer
file, making index and flashcard, listening to recording or teacher, repeating the words
orally and written, quizzing, and asking the new words to others.
Another study was also conducted by Akbari and Tahririan (2009). The aim of
this study was to identify what vocabulary learning strategies used by the students in
learning specialized and non-specialized vocabulary. This study involved 137 participants
from paramedical undergraduates of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
Observation, interview and questionnaire were used as the instruments for collecting the
data. Finally, this qualitative study found that the participants mostly used consolidating
dictionaries and repeating the words orally and written.
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The Study
Method of the Research
This study was conducted to identify the vocabulary learning strategies used by
ESP students. A descriptive method was used in the present study. Close-ended
questionnaire and Interview were used as the instrument in this research. The participants
of the study were students of Economic International Program in Satya Wacana Christian
University, Salatiga. The reason of choosing Economic International Program students as
the participants was because almost all of the classes use English as the medium of
teaching and learning, so the students have many opportunities to find many new technical
words. Moreover, the economic words are unique and rarely found in daily life. Hence, the
students may need to use VLSs to comprehend the meaning of the words. The study used
purposive sampling technique where all of the participants were those who have
experienced English as the medium in teaching and learning process.
Participants
The present study involved all of Indonesian undergraduate students of
Economics International Program in Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
Economic International Program is a new program established in 2013 by the Faculty of
Economics and Business of SWCU. The 24 participants were freshmen of management
and accounting major who have English as the medium of their learning process. Almost
all of the classroom instruction, activities, and textbooks are in English.
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Research Instrument
The study used a questionnaire as the research instrument. In this study, closeended questionnaire was used to collect the data. Close-ended questionnaire consisted of
thirty three statements of vocabulary learning strategies (appendix 1). The questionnaire
was based on Schmitt Taxonomy adapted from Kafipour (2011) and Komol (2011). The
students were to select an option from ‘always’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’ or ‘never’. The
questionnaire was in Bahasa Indonesia to make the students feel more confident while
filling the questionnaire. Before the questionnaire was administered to the participants,
piloting was conducted to ten students of Faculty of Economy. The piloting aimed to
examine whether the questionnaire were understandable or not.
To supplement the data from the questionnaire, a semi-structured interview was
conducted. The interview was also done in Bahasa Indonesia (appendix 2).
Data Collection
After piloting and revising, the questionnaire was administered to all Economic
International Program students. Since the present research aimed to find the vocabulary
learning strategies used by ESP students, the purposive sampling technique was applied. In
other words, all Economic International Program students participated in filling the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was given at the end of their classes and submitted
directly after they finished filling the questionnaire. Before the questionnaire papers were
given to the students, a brief explanation about the purpose of asking their participation in
the study was informed.
To obtain more data from the participants, a personal-interview to five
participants was conducted. The interview was done after the results of the questionnaire
had been obtained. The five interviewees were the representatives of the participants who
chose seven strategies which ranked highest in this research. The interviewees were also
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the representatives of the participants who did not use seven strategies which ranked
lowest in the present research. Interview for each participant was conducted around 10 to
15 minutes. The interview was done during their free time and it used Bahasa Indonesia to
make the participants feel more comfortable. The questions were given 3 minutes before
the interview in order to make them ready to answer the questions.
Data Analysis
To analyze the results, the answers from the questionnaire were calculated using
Excel. After the questionnaire results were obtained, personal interviews were conducted
to seek more information. The interviews were recorded then transcribed.
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Data Analysis and Discussion
This chapter presents data analysis and discussion of the results based on the
five vocabulary learning strategies from Schmitt’s taxonomy. Each strategy has items
which will be presented in figures and followed by interpretation. According to Schmitt
(2000), Vocabulary Learning Strategy is divided into two; strategies to discover new
word’s meaning (DET and SOC strategies) and strategies to consolidate the new word
which has been learned (SOC, MEM, COG, and MET strategies).
Strategies for the discovery of meaning of new words:
Determination Strategy
There were six items under Determination strategy:
Item 1: Check the word’s form; whether the word belongs to verb, noun,
adjective, etc.
Item 2: Analyze root and affixes to guess the meanings of the word. E.g.:
repurchase: re-: do again, purchase: to buy.
Item 3: Check if the word is also an Indonesian word. E.g.: debit, Indonesia: debit.
Item 4: Guess word’s meaning from the context.
Item 5: Look up a word in English – Indonesian dictionary.
Item 6: Look up a word in English – English dictionary.
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Figure1: Students’ use of Determination Strategies:
70%
58%
60%
54%
50%
50%
42%
42%
40%
30%
21%
17%
20%
10%
21%
29%
25%
17%
29%
29%
42%
33%
25% 25%
17%
12%
4%
4%
4%
0%
0%
0%
Item 1
Item 2
Never
Item 3
Item 4
Sometimes
Often
Item 5
Item 6
Always
It can be seen from Figure 1 that the highest strategies chosen by the students
were item number 3 and 4. 71% of the participants chose both items. The scores were
calculated from the total percentage of ‘often’ and ‘always’ option (item 3 had 54%
for ‘often’ and 17% for ‘always’ while item 4 had 42% for ‘often’ and 29% for
‘always’).
The first highest rank in DET was item 3. The similarity of some English
economic vocabulary in Indonesian could be a factor why this item ranked highest.
The participants explained that the resemblance between Indonesian and English
words helped them to guess and understand the meaning of a word. One of the
interviewees stated, “… maknanya memang sama tapi penulisannya lain. Jadi
mungkin kita bisa mengartikan kata itu hampir samalah dengan bahasa Indonesia
itu” (Tr: the meaning is similar but the spelling is different. Thus, we can say that the
meaning of English word is closely matched with Indonesian). For example, the
students already know the word inflasi in Indonesian which means an economic
condition characterized by continuously rising prices (Bennet, 1988, p. 95), so when
the students heard the word inflation, they could guess that inflation means inflasi.
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Because of the similarity, the students may have associated a new word
with their cognate in Indonesian. Nation (2001) stated that the less similarity of items
and patterns between L1 and foreign language, the more burden of vocabulary
learning (p. 220). In other words, if there are many words which are similar with the
first language, the word learning burden would not be too heavy. Therefore, the
learners can understand a new word easily when the word is similar with their first
language.
Item number 4 also ranked highest in this category. 71% of the participants
chose the item as the strategy they used most. There were some reasons why this
strategy was selected. The first one was the use of English in their textbooks. Almost
all of the textbooks used in this program were written in English. Participant one
stated, “Lesson saya tiap hari kan menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Jadi udah apa ya,
udah sering gitulah” (Tr: My daily lessons use English so I usually guess the word
from the context). The participant frequently met texts, written explanations,
instructions, and tasks in English. Therefore, the students often find new words while
reading the text books and then apply strategy of guessing meaning from the context.
The second reason was because a definition of an economic word in
economic context could be different from dictionary meaning. Participant 4
commented,
There are some words which have two meanings in English.
Sometimes the definition in the dictionary will be different with
what is meant by the author of the book I read. Therefore, it is
better to read the whole paragraph to understand what is meant by
the author in this book.
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Nation (2008) stated, “Most technical words occur only in one specialized
area, but some technical words can occur in other areas, some with the same meaning
and some with different meaning.” (p. 10). Hence, guessing from the context was
often used because the definition of technical words could be different with definition
in dictionary. The last reason was the context could help them understand the
meaning of a word. The context and words were considered as clues to help them
guess the meaning of a word. Carton (1971) mentioned that cues could be based on
the text and knowledge of English.
In contrast, item one had the lowest rank. 38% of the participants chose
this strategy. Only 17% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 21% of them choose
‘always’. This item ranked lowest because the participants were not students of
English. They did not have any vocabulary class to learn and test their vocabulary.
Therefore, they only needed to know the meaning without paying attention to the
form of its word. As what has been said by a participant, “Knowing a word belongs to
verb, noun, or adjective is not influential. Knowing the meaning is enough.”
A similar result was found by Khasawneh (2012) who conducted the
research on Jordan University of Science and technology. Guessing from textual
context also ranked highest. The use of English in their text books could be the
reason of why this research has same result with the present study. The textbooks
written in English could provide many opportunities for them to use guessing from
the text. Moreover, like the meaning of economic words, the meaning of vocabulary
in science and technology could also be different with the ones in dictionary. Thus,
the participants on his study guessed the meaning from the context.
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Social Strategy
There were four items under Social strategy:
Item 7: Ask the teacher to translate the meaning of a word that I do not
understand.
Item 8: Ask the teacher for synonyms or similar meanings of new word.
Item 9: Ask the teacher for definition.
Item10: Ask classmates.
Figure 2: Students’ use of Social Strategies:
67%
70%
60%
58%
54%
50%
40%
38%
33%
20%
10%
29%
25%
30%
13%
17%
25%
17%
8%
0%
8%
8%
0%
0%
Item 7
Item 8
Never
Item 9
Sometimes
Often
Item 10
Always
It can be seen from Figure 2 that item number nine ranked highest in SOC
strategy. 75% of the participants chose this item. The score was calculated from the
total percentage of ‘often’ and ‘always’. 67% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 8%
chose ‘always’.
A reason why item nine ranked highest was the belief that all lecturers were
experts in economy. The economic background of the lecturers could have been the
reason for students to trust the teachers. It indicates that a teacher is considered as a
credible source. The interviewees explained that the teachers could provide clear and
correct definition of a new word. Participant one and four added, the teacher’s
explanation is more specific and suitable than the one in dictionary because
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sometimes economic words have different meaning or cannot be found in general
dictionary. Nation (2008) explained that specialized words are commonly found in a
certain area but rarely found in other areas (p. 12). It means, only someone familiar
with economic words can provide suitable definition of an economic word. In
addition, the use of English as a medium of instruction in classroom provided the
opportunities for the participants to ask about word definition to the teacher.
In contrast, item number eight had the lowest rank. 25% of the participants
chose this strategy. Only 17% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 8% of them chose
‘always’. It happened because what was needed by the participants as ESP students
was only to know the meaning of a word. Participant two and four commented the
definition given by teacher was clear. Therefore, knowing the synonym of the word
was not crucial. Moreover, the participants did not specifically learn English. They
used English as a means in learning process. In addition, an interviewee stated,
“Synonym of economic word is hardly found.” This could also explain why this
strategy was barely used.
A different finding was shown in the research conducted by Khasawneh
(2012) where the students mostly chose “Ask teacher for L1 translate” and “Ask
classmates for meaning”. The different results could be caused by the frequency of
using English in the classroom. How often English is used as the medium of
instruction and communication in teaching and learning process could contribute to
the different result. Another factor was his participants may feel more comfortable
asking friends than asking the teacher.
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Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered:
Social Strategy
There were two items under Social strategy:
Item 11: Study the word with my classmates
Item 12: Talk with Native English speaker
Figure 3: Students’ use of Social Strategies:
70%
59%
55%
60%
50%
40%
33%
29%
30%
20%
10%
8%
4%
4%
8%
0%
Item 11
Never
Item 12
Sometimes
Often
Always
From Figure 3 above, it can be seen that 37% of the participants chose item
number eleven and only 12% of the participants chose item number 12.
Most of the students chose item number 11 as the strategy used in this
category. The presence of capable peers helped the students in learning the known
words. The interviewees stated that discussing words with classmates helped them
understand the word. Participant one added, “My friends and I have similar thought
and if we discuss the meaning of a known word, we will make our own definition of
the word. Thus, we can understand the word easier.” Falchikov (2001) stated,
“Interaction with peers can result… an increase in knowledge and understanding.” By
discussing new words with friends, the participants can develop their knowledge and
understanding of the word. Participant 2 added, discussing with classmates did not
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only help them to understand the meaning easily but also it could help them remember
the meaning easily. This shows that the students can easily remember the new words if
they discuss the vocabulary with their friends because the language is easier to
comprehend.
Different from item eleven, item twelve placed second rank in SOC. The
result showed that only 12% of the participants chose item number twelve. The
absence of native English speaker with Economic background could be the factor of
why this strategy was least chosen by the students. There is only one native English
teacher in their faculty. The teacher only teaches general English and does not have
any economic background. In his class, the participants only learnt about writing
skills, western culture in business, and speaking skill. All of the interviewees
commented that they never discussed about economic words with the teacher because
the classes he taught were not economic subject. In addition, they rarely interacted
with English native speaker outside the classroom. With this condition, the
participants lost the opportunities to interact with English native speaker in order to
remember the economic vocabulary.
The result differed with the study conducted by Khasawneh (2012). At his
study, the students mostly chose “Discover new meaning through group work
activity”. The different result was obtained because the participants in the present
study did not have special class to learn about economic vocabulary. Therefore,
discovering new meaning through group work activity was not included in the
questionnaire and did not become the highest strategy chosen in the present study.
However, studying meaning with friends placed the second rank in Khasawneh’s
study.
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Memory Strategy
There were ten items under Memory strategy:
Item 13: Connect the word with my previous experience.
Item 14: Group the word based on its affixes (e.g. grouping the all words with
suffix re- in one group, -ment in one group, etc)
Item 15: Group the word by its form (verb, noun, adjective, etc)
Item 16: Look for its synonym and antonym.
Item 17: Remember the new word by connecting with the words I have learnt
before.
Item 18: Try to make a sentence using the word.
Item 19: Group the word based on topic.
Item 20: Remember the word by studying and paying attention to its spelling.
Item 21: Make my own definition for the word
Item 22: Pronounce the word.
Figure 4: Students’ use of Memory Strategies:
80%
67%
70%
58%
60%
46%
50%
42%
38%
33%
33%
29%
29%
33%
29%
29%
25%
21%
25%
21%
21%
20%
13%
10%
0%
0%
0%
46%
42%
42%
40% 33%
30%
58%
54%
4%
21%
17%
12%
4%
0% 0%
21%
13%
8%
12%
4%
12%
4%
Item 13 Item 14 Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Stat. 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21 Item 22
Never
Sometimes
20
Often
Always
From Figure 4 above, the result shows that item number twenty ranked
highest. 79% of the participants chose this strategy. In the other hands, only 25% of
the participants chose item number fifteen. Similar with item number 15, item number
19 was also in the lowest place. Only 25% of the participants chose this strategy.
Learning and paying attention to word’s spelling made the participants feel
easier to recall the words. Participant five commented that paying attention to the
word’s spelling helped her remember the word. Participant one added “So, if next time
I find the word again, I will easily remember the meaning.” According to Akbari
(2011), “… proper knowledge of spelling are a great help to memorize words.” This
indicates that by learning word’s spelling, the participants can easily remember the
meaning of the word in the future. In addition, studying and paying attention to the
words also can help the students in writing the word correctly as stated by participant
two. The strategy did not only help the participants to remember the word but also
helped the students to know how to write the word correctly. Gu (2003) stated that
knowing a word is also knowing its form. In other words, understanding the word does
not only mean knowing its meaning but also knowing its form.
In contrast, only 25% of the participants chose grouping the word based on its
form such as grouping all verbs in one group and noun in one group. The reason was
because the participants were not the students who specially learnt about English.
They were not language learners who needed to know the detail information about a
word. The participants only needed to know the meaning of the word. As what has
been stated above, English was a medium of instruction and communication in
classroom. Therefore, they did not need to group the word based on its form to study
or remember the meaning. Participant four added, grouping the word into its form was
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complicated. It means using this kind of strategy may not be effective and wasting
time.
25% of the students also chose strategy number nineteen. The first factor
causing the strategy to rank low was, there were many words in a topic or unit found
in other topics. All of the interviewees stated that a word in a particular chapter could
be found in the following chapters. Participant four gave an example “For example in
the micro economics class, we often asked to make graphs and there is a line called
‘budget line’ and ‘constraint’. When I checked my textbook, then I found out that the
word ‘budget line’ was also there.” Therefore, the participants did not classify the
words based on the topic in order to remember the meaning. The second factor was,
they did not have enough time to classify the words based on its chapter. Seventeen to
nineteen credits in a trimester and ten hours tutoring made them very busy. Thus,
grouping words based on topic was considered as time consuming as stated by
Participant two. Moreover, they did not have vocabulary test, so they did not need to
remember specialized vocabulary based on its topic.
A different result was founded in the study conducted by Khasawneh (2012).
The highest rank was connecting the word in its synonyms and antonyms. In contrast,
this strategy was low in the present study because it was difficult to find the synonym
or antonym of economic words. Participant one stated “It was hard to find the synonym
of economic word.” The situation was different with Khasawneh’s study where there
might be many synonyms or antonyms found in science and technology field.
22
Cognitive Strategy
There were 7 items under Cognitive strategy:
Item 23: Say the word repeatedly.
Item 24: Write the word repeatedly.
Item 25: Make word list.
Item 26: Use flashcard.
Item 27: Take notes.
Item 28: Underline the word.
Item 29: Keep a vocabulary notebook wherever you go.
Figure 5: Students’ use of Cognitive Strategies:
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
79%
63%
55%
46%
42% 42%
38%
42%
38%
38%
33%
33%
4%
12%
Item 23
12%
12%
4%
8%
Item 24
25%
21%
21%
Item 25
Never
8%
0% 0%
Item 26
Sometimes
Often
Item 27
8%
4%
Item 28
8%
4%
Item29
Always
From the Figure above, item number twenty eight was chosen by most
participants. 59% of the participants chose this item. In contrast, item number twenty
six ranked lowest in Cognitive strategy. No one of the participants chose item number
twenty six as their strategy.
Item number twenty eight was chosen by most participants. Underlining a
word helped the participants to recall the new word. Participant one commented
“Underlining economic words helped me to understand the points of the words
23
effortlessly while reviewing. I could easily remember the meaning of the words.”
Hassanvand et al. (2012) stated that underlining the word can help the students in
guessing and recognizing new words. Thus, the students have significant
understanding of the words (p. 353). It indicates that underlining new words do not
only help the students to understand the new words, but it also helps the students to
remember the new words. Participant two added “Underlining word help me
remember the word easily and the word is important so it could be repeated again and
again, so recalling vocabulary by underlying the word is needed.” It means giving
mark by underlining the word can also be a reminder that the word is important and
needed to learn repeatedly. Moreover, by underlining the word, students will be able to
find certain word easily when they want to study later.
In contrast, item number twenty six ranked lowest. Using flashcard was
considered as complicated and time consuming. Even though three of the interviewees
knew what flashcard was, they never used flashcard to learn vocabulary. All of the
interviewees stated that they did not have time to make a flashcard. Moreover, two
participants preferred remembering the words by taking notes or underlying the word
than recalling the word by using flashcard. It shows that the participants use simple
and instant way to remember new economic vocabulary.
Different result was shown by research conducted by Khasawneh (2012)
where verbal repetition was chosen by most participants. However, this strategy was
also rated as a high strategy in the present study because verbal repetition placed the
second rank in Cognitive strategy.
24
Meta-Cognitive Strategy
There were 4 items under Meta-Cognitive strategy:
Item 30: Use English media (news, news broadcasting, internet, magazine, video,
etc).
Item 31: Test myself with word test.
Item 32: Skip or pass new word which likely does not need to study.
Item 33: Continue to study the word overtime.
Figure 6: Students’ use of Memory Strategies:
60%
54%
50%
46%
50%
38%
40%
33%
33%
29%
30%
29%
21%
21%
20%
13%
12%
8%
10%
8%
4%
0%
0%
Item 30
Item 31
Never
Sometimes
Item 32
Often
Item 33
Always
It can be seen from Figure six that item number thirty is the highest rank in
MET. 59% of the participants chose this item. In contrast, item number thirty two
ranked the lowest. Only 33% of the participants chose this strategy.
Using English media supported the students in learning vocabulary. The
interview result showed that by using English media such as internet, newspaper,
video, and magazine helped the students remember vocabulary easily. Many English
media provides context, so the students can learn certain word easily. Context could
help them understand more about new words. As participant four stated “Actually
there are some economic words which are unique. Therefore, I use other media such as
internet and magazine so in the internet there are some websites which help me to
25
understand two things, English and economy… So, I often read English articles and
news about economics.”
The presence of English media can also be seen as an alternative for students’
vocabulary learning. As what has been stated by participant three that he used English
media such as the internet or videos when he was bored with the explanation from
teacher and handbooks. From all of English media mentioned in the questionnaire,
internet was the English medium chosen most frequently. Easy access and economical
factor could be the reasons why the internet was mostly used in this present study. The
students can browse any materials needed anywhere and anytime. The Internet makes
the students to be more independent in their vocabulary learning as what has been
stated by Brahja (2013, p. 660).
In contrast, few participants chose item number thirty two. The participants
perceived that all economic words were important to learn. The interview showed that
all of the participants agreed that all of economic words were important to remember.
Participant one stated “If I did not know only a word in English sentence, it could
affect our understanding to that sentence. Then, we cannot get the point.” It proved
that for them, knowing all of economic vocabulary was crucial. Moreover, economic
words were continuously used in their future work. Hence, they thought that all of the
economic words were necessary.
Different result was shown in the research conducted by Khasawneh (2012)
in Jordan University of Science and Technology. His study showed that continue to
study word overtime was considered as the highest strategy chosen by the participants.
26
Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion
As what has been stated above, the aim of the present study was to find what
vocabulary learning strategies used by the students of Economic International Program of
Satya Wacana Christian University in learning specialized vocabulary. To find the answer
for the present research, a questionnaire was administered and an interview was conducted.
The study found that the students of Economic International Program chose
checking if the word is also an Indonesian word. E.g.: debit, Indonesia: debit and guessing
word’s meaning from the context (DET), asking the teacher to give definition (SOC),
studying the word with my classmates (SOC), remembering the word by studying and
paying attention to its spelling (MEM), underlining the word (COG), and using English
media such as news, news broadcasting, internet, magazine, or video (MET).
The participants chose vocabulary learning strategies which were practical, fast,
and simple but efficient to discover and remember new words such as guessing the
meaning from the context, asking the teacher for definition, studying the meaning with
friends, underlining words, and using other English media. The finding indicates that what
is important for the participants is only to know the meaning of the new words. Therefore,
using flashcard, grouping the word according to topic, and classifying the word into its
form were least chosen in the present study since those were considered as time
consuming. Moreover, the participants did not have special class or test of economic
vocabulary. In other words, English in ESP context is used as a medium of instruction to
achieve their future goal. Akbari (2011) stated, “ESP students learn English as a means to
achieve their subject-specific and ultimately their occupational goals.”
27
Overall, it is hoped that the findings of the present study could be useful for ESP
students to enrich their vocabulary which could be beneficial for understanding the
materials. As what has been stated that the seven strategies chosen by the participants
showed that they tended to use practical, simple, and fast strategies to understand the
lessons. Besides that, the participants also perceived that the strategies chosen were
efficient for them to comprehend the meaning of new words. Therefore, by using those
strategies, the participants could understand the materials being taught. It is hoped that the
strategies used by the participants are also useful for other ESP students to comprehend the
materials.
It is also hoped that the present study could be used as a reference for ESP teachers
to help the learners who find difficulties in comprehending the meaning of vocabulary in
ESP context. The teachers could suggest or teach the students to use the strategies from the
present study. Moreover, the teachers can also direct the students to be independent
learners by introducing and teaching the students to apply the vocabulary learning
strategies in learning technical words.
Recommendation for Learning Vocabulary
The recommendation that could be drawn from the results of this
study is: ESP students could use strategies of learning vocabulary which are simple
and fast but efficient for them in understanding the technical words since English is
used as the medium of instruction in their learning process. Besides that, the students
also can utilize all facilities, media, and sources around them such as textbooks,
internet, teacher and classmates to support their vocabulary understanding. Thus, by
using simple strategies, the students could comprehend the meaning of new words
without spending much time in learning specialized words. Besides that, VLSs may
help the students to be independent learners.
28
Improvement of Further Research
The present study has one thing that needs to be improved for the further research.
The further study can examine the effectiveness of the vocabulary learning strategies found
in this study. Close- and open-ended questionnaire, a test, and in-depth interview can be
conducted to find how effective the strategies chosen for discovering, remembering, and
producing technical words in ESP. Including an open-ended and in-depth interview can
give students more space to deliver more detail information that might help the researcher
to enrich the data for the finding.
Limitation of the Study
There are some limitations during conducting the present study. First, the
participants of this present study were only 24 students of Economic International
Program. The number of the participants was very limited because Economic International
Program is a new program in Satya Wacana which was established in 2013. Second, the
research was done only in one semester. Because the program is a new program which was
established last year, the research was conducted only in a short period.
29
Acknowledgement
I believe this thesis would not have been finished and completed without much help
and support from my beloved people. First of all, I would like to say thanks to my
Almighty Lord, Jesus Christ, who never leaves me alone in every bad and good
circumstance. I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. I Gusti Astika,
M.A. who was abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance, and guidance.
Deepest gratitude is also due to my examiner, Anita Kurniawati H., M.Hum. Without her
knowledge and assistance, this study would not have been completed. I would like to thank
to all lecturers, staff, and students of Economic International Program. Without their
participation, I would not be able to finish this study. I also wish to express my great love
and gratitude to Mom, Dad, my grandmothers, Pak Tri, and all of my family for the never
ending support and prayers. I would also like to thank to all lecturers and staff of English
Department for all valuable and great supports, knowledge, and experiences. Finally, I
would also like to thank all my friends; Ester, Dyah, Dessy, Tenners, BASE, and ShED for
all amazing supports and motivations.
Salatiga, March 19th , 2014
Tia Arsita Desiana
30
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Akbari, Z. (2011). Vocabulary comprehension and learning in an ESP context: Strategy
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University.
Lessard-Cloust
ECONOMIC INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM
Introduction
Vocabulary is considered as one of the important elements in comprehending the
lesson, especially in learning foreign language. Heidari et al. (2012) stated that vocabulary
is the core of language and the cornerstone of language students (p. 1488). Through
comprehending foreign words, students will be able to understand the meaning of the
words. Wessels (2011) stated, “Vocabulary knowledge is essential to students’ academic
success. If students do not understand the meaning of the words in the text, they will have
difficulty understanding the content” (p. 46). Therefore, comprehending the meaning of the
words will help the students understand the materials and reading texts.
The vocabulary of English as foreign language is seen as a significant component
for foreign students, especially for students of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) since
they will often find specialized English words in their program. Harding (2011) explained
that vocabulary is crucial in ESP because students will meet many technical or specialized
words which are used to explain materials in their specialism (p. 53). Hence, understanding
the meaning of the words could help the students comprehending the lessons.
In order to achieve their future goal which is to succeed in their specialism, they
need VLSs to increase their vocabulary knowledge and understand the materials. As what
has been stated by Ghazal (2007) that VLSs can make the learners increase their
knowledge of various target language vocabularies (p. 90). Moreover, English is the
medium of instruction in ESP class, so comprehending the vocabulary can help the
students to understand the lessons and succeed in their specialism. Akbari (2011) stated,
English facilitates ESP students to achieve their future goals (p. 7).
1
VLSs are important for ESP students because VLSs do not only help the students
to understand new words and increase their vocabulary knowledge but also vocabulary
learning strategies could make the students to be independent learners. However, some
ESP programs do not provide special class teaching about technical vocabulary. In this
situation, the students cannot always rely on their teachers. Therefore, they need to find
their own strategies to cope with unknown words independently in order to make them
understand about the materials given. This condition is experienced by students of
Economic International Program in Satya Wacana Christian University.
Hence, the present study aimed to find answer of what are the vocabulary learning
strategies used by Economic International Program students in learning specialized
vocabulary. Therefore, the objective of the study was to explore what the vocabulary
learning strategies which are used by Economic International Program students in learning
specialized vocabulary.
This present study could be useful for EFL students, especially ESP students
who find problems in comprehending specialized vocabulary. Furthermore, this study
could be used by ESP teachers as a reference to help the learners who find difficulties in
understanding the meaning of vocabulary in ESP context. As what Kafipour and Naveh
(2011) stated that through knowing the types of vocabulary learning strategies, the teacher
can teach VLS to the students in order to help them deal with ESP vocabulary (p. 628).
2
Literature Review
This section discusses the definition of vocabulary learning strategies, the
relationship between vocabulary learning strategies and ESP, the types of vocabulary
learning strategies, and VLS research in ESP.
Defining Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Vocabulary learning strategies are more than comprehending new vocabulary.
According to Asgari and Mustapha (2011), vocabulary learning strategies are stages taken
by the learners in learning new words (p.85). It means that when the students find new
English words in their learning process, they need to take an action in order to understand
the words so that they can understand the materials they learn. However, VLS is not only
about how the learners learn new vocabulary but it is also about how they keep the words
in their long-term memories and be able to use and produce the words in the appropriate
context as stated by Ruutments (2005) cited in Jurcovic (2006). Gu (2003) added that
“Knowing a word means knowing at least its form, its meaning, and its basic usage in
context receptively and productively” (p. 75). It indicates that the scope of vocabulary
learning strategies is not merely about comprehending new words but it covers broader
aspects.
Vocabulary learning strategies help EFL learners to achieve their learning goals
and make them to be independent learners. Ghazal (2007) stated that VLS is a way to make
the learners improve their knowledge of various target language vocabularies (p. 90).
Through mastering vocabulary, the learners will be able to deal successfully with materials
and tasks given in the target language (Ghazal, 2007, p. 90). Based on Ghazal’s idea, using
strategies for learning vocabulary can help the students gaining their learning goals since
3
by comprehending the vocabulary, the learners will be able to understand the materials
given. Moreover, vocabulary is seen as the basic element of language. It shows that
without knowing the words, the students cannot be able to name things, concepts, and so
on. As what has been stated by Ghazal (2007) “Vocabulary is central to language and is of
great significance to language learners. Words are the building blocks of a language since
they label objects, actions, ideas without which people cannot convey the intended
meaning.“ (p. 84). VLSs do not only help the learners achieving their learning goals, VLS
can also accustom the students to be independent learners. By applying vocabulary
learning strategies, the students can manage and monitor their own learning process
without depending all the time on the teacher’s help as explained by Nation (2001, p. 222).
In other words, independent learning encourages the students to be more responsible for
their language learning process.
Types of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
There are many researchers who provide taxonomies of vocabulary learning
strategies such as Nation (1990, 2001) and Schmitt (1997) but the present study used
Schmitt’s taxonomy as the basis while another theory was used as a support. Schmitt’s
theory (1997) is well-known and mostly used as the basic theory of many vocabulary
learning strategy researchers. In general, Schmitt (2000) divided the strategies into two
major groups: strategies which are used to discover the meaning of new words and
strategies which are used to recall the known vocabulary (p. 135). Schmitt (2000) also
classified the strategies into several specific groups (p. 134-136):
1.
Determination strategies (DET): individual strategies which are used to understand
the meaning of the words without any help from others such as guessing context,
guessing from L1 cognate, using reference materials such as dictionaries, analyzing
affixes and roots, and using dictionaries to convey a particular word. The strategies
4
which belong to this type are commonly used to find the meaning of new words than
recalling the words which have already known.
2.
Social strategies (SOC): Social strategies are different with DET strategies.
Strategies which belong to this type will involve interaction with others in learning
the new words such as asking the teacher or classmates. Social strategies do not only
work in discovering new vocabulary but SOC also can be used to remember the
words known by the students such as studying meaning with friends or practicing to
use the words with native speaker. Thus, the key note of this type is involving
interaction.
3.
Memory strategies (MEM):
These strategies are also commonly known as
mnemonics strategies. The strategies are used to recall vocabulary which has already
known. In these strategies, learners will relate their previously learned knowledge
with the target words by grouping the words according to its form or topic, forming
imaginary, using physical action, connecting new word to past experience, studying
the spelling of the words and speaking out loud the words while studying them.
4.
Cognitive strategies (COG): These strategies are similar to Memory strategies but
they do not really focus on the mental process. Cognitive strategies emphasize more
on the mechanical means to comprehend the known words. Thus, strategies in
Cognitive engage repetition and tools to learn vocabulary. Strategies which belong to
COG are repeating words verbally and written, making words lists, and labeling
English words on physical objects.
5.
Metacognitive strategies (MET): Strategies where the learners consciously decide the
best way to plan, monitor, and evaluate the strategies to study the words. The
learners using metacognitive strategies will decide which words they will focus and
learn deeper. The learners also try to check their understanding by doing word tests.
The examples of metacognitive strategies are using English-language media,
5
skipping or passing new word, continuing to study the words all over the time, and
test oneself by using word tests or games.
Another theory of VLS is the theory from Nation (2001). He classified the type of
VLSs into three: planning, sources, and process. Nation (2001) explained that the first
classification is planning. Planning is about deciding of what words and aspect are being
focused, how to focus, and how often to focus on the vocabulary studied (p.218). In this
stage, the learners will decide what kind of words they will study (academic, technical or
high-low frequency words), what aspects and strategies they want to focus, and how often
they want to use the strategies (p.219).
The second classification is sources. In this stage, students start to use strategies to
understand new vocabulary by gathering any information related to the words (Nation,
2001, p. 219). When the students in this stage, they start to find sources in order to
understand the new words by analyzing the word parts such as using knowledge in affixes
and root (Nation, 1990; p.168), guessing meaning from the context, consulting references
to peers, teachers, glossary, or dictionaries, and connecting their first and target language
to understand the words (Nation, 2001, p.120).
The third classification is process. It provides ways of how to remember and use
the vocabulary appropriately (p. 221). Nation (2001) divided this major into three subunits:
noticing, retrieving, and generating. Noticing is when the learners see the vocabulary as
something to be learnt. The strategies which are involved here are listing vocabulary,
making flashcard or the students can repeat the words orally and visually. Retrieving is
when the learners recall the words which they have already met (p.221). In this part, the
learners remember the same words again and again (p. 80). The last subunit is generating.
In this strategy, the learners will produce a sentence and collocation using word they learn
in the new context, using mnemonic strategies, and analyze the word and so on. (Nation,
2001; p. 222).
6
VLS and English for Specific Purpose
Vocabulary learning strategies have contribution in helping ESP students to
cope with their ESP learning process. As what has been explained above, vocabulary
learning strategies could help the learners to understand materials and activities in foreign
language (Ghazal, 2007, p.90). This also happens in ESP context where VLSs help the
students to understand the materials to achieve their goals. Akbari (2011) stated, “ESP
students learn English as a means to achieve their subject-specific and ultimately their
occupational goals.” (p. 7). It indicates that English in ESP context becomes an important
tool for the students in dealing with their future goals. Moreover, the usage of English as a
medium of International communication nowadays has made English widely used in many
subjects such as technology, science, economics, and so on (Floris, 2013, p.4). Based on
that situation, it is crucial that ESP students need VLSs to help them comprehend the
vocabulary in their specialism to convey its meaning. Moreover, most of the vocabulary
found in their specialism is technical vocabulary. This kind of vocabulary only exists in a
certain context but it does not commonly exist in other contexts as stated by Hutchinson
and Waters (2006) and Nation (2001, 2008).
VLS Research in ESP context
Some studies related to VLS in ESP context have been conducted. One of
them is a study conducted by Lessard-Clouston (2008). One of the aims of this study was
to explore what kinds of vocabulary learning strategies were used by native and non native
English students of Christian Graduate School of Theology in Canada. This study involved
6 students of non native English speakers and 5 students of native English speakers. To
gain the results of the study, a test of Theological Language was done before a
questionnaire and interview were conducted. The result of the study shows that the
participants used VLSs such as consulting to dictionary and glossary, practicing new words
7
in paper, taking written notes in class, written listing vocabulary, listing words in computer
file, making index and flashcard, listening to recording or teacher, repeating the words
orally and written, quizzing, and asking the new words to others.
Another study was also conducted by Akbari and Tahririan (2009). The aim of
this study was to identify what vocabulary learning strategies used by the students in
learning specialized and non-specialized vocabulary. This study involved 137 participants
from paramedical undergraduates of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
Observation, interview and questionnaire were used as the instruments for collecting the
data. Finally, this qualitative study found that the participants mostly used consolidating
dictionaries and repeating the words orally and written.
8
The Study
Method of the Research
This study was conducted to identify the vocabulary learning strategies used by
ESP students. A descriptive method was used in the present study. Close-ended
questionnaire and Interview were used as the instrument in this research. The participants
of the study were students of Economic International Program in Satya Wacana Christian
University, Salatiga. The reason of choosing Economic International Program students as
the participants was because almost all of the classes use English as the medium of
teaching and learning, so the students have many opportunities to find many new technical
words. Moreover, the economic words are unique and rarely found in daily life. Hence, the
students may need to use VLSs to comprehend the meaning of the words. The study used
purposive sampling technique where all of the participants were those who have
experienced English as the medium in teaching and learning process.
Participants
The present study involved all of Indonesian undergraduate students of
Economics International Program in Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.
Economic International Program is a new program established in 2013 by the Faculty of
Economics and Business of SWCU. The 24 participants were freshmen of management
and accounting major who have English as the medium of their learning process. Almost
all of the classroom instruction, activities, and textbooks are in English.
9
Research Instrument
The study used a questionnaire as the research instrument. In this study, closeended questionnaire was used to collect the data. Close-ended questionnaire consisted of
thirty three statements of vocabulary learning strategies (appendix 1). The questionnaire
was based on Schmitt Taxonomy adapted from Kafipour (2011) and Komol (2011). The
students were to select an option from ‘always’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’ or ‘never’. The
questionnaire was in Bahasa Indonesia to make the students feel more confident while
filling the questionnaire. Before the questionnaire was administered to the participants,
piloting was conducted to ten students of Faculty of Economy. The piloting aimed to
examine whether the questionnaire were understandable or not.
To supplement the data from the questionnaire, a semi-structured interview was
conducted. The interview was also done in Bahasa Indonesia (appendix 2).
Data Collection
After piloting and revising, the questionnaire was administered to all Economic
International Program students. Since the present research aimed to find the vocabulary
learning strategies used by ESP students, the purposive sampling technique was applied. In
other words, all Economic International Program students participated in filling the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was given at the end of their classes and submitted
directly after they finished filling the questionnaire. Before the questionnaire papers were
given to the students, a brief explanation about the purpose of asking their participation in
the study was informed.
To obtain more data from the participants, a personal-interview to five
participants was conducted. The interview was done after the results of the questionnaire
had been obtained. The five interviewees were the representatives of the participants who
chose seven strategies which ranked highest in this research. The interviewees were also
10
the representatives of the participants who did not use seven strategies which ranked
lowest in the present research. Interview for each participant was conducted around 10 to
15 minutes. The interview was done during their free time and it used Bahasa Indonesia to
make the participants feel more comfortable. The questions were given 3 minutes before
the interview in order to make them ready to answer the questions.
Data Analysis
To analyze the results, the answers from the questionnaire were calculated using
Excel. After the questionnaire results were obtained, personal interviews were conducted
to seek more information. The interviews were recorded then transcribed.
11
Data Analysis and Discussion
This chapter presents data analysis and discussion of the results based on the
five vocabulary learning strategies from Schmitt’s taxonomy. Each strategy has items
which will be presented in figures and followed by interpretation. According to Schmitt
(2000), Vocabulary Learning Strategy is divided into two; strategies to discover new
word’s meaning (DET and SOC strategies) and strategies to consolidate the new word
which has been learned (SOC, MEM, COG, and MET strategies).
Strategies for the discovery of meaning of new words:
Determination Strategy
There were six items under Determination strategy:
Item 1: Check the word’s form; whether the word belongs to verb, noun,
adjective, etc.
Item 2: Analyze root and affixes to guess the meanings of the word. E.g.:
repurchase: re-: do again, purchase: to buy.
Item 3: Check if the word is also an Indonesian word. E.g.: debit, Indonesia: debit.
Item 4: Guess word’s meaning from the context.
Item 5: Look up a word in English – Indonesian dictionary.
Item 6: Look up a word in English – English dictionary.
12
Figure1: Students’ use of Determination Strategies:
70%
58%
60%
54%
50%
50%
42%
42%
40%
30%
21%
17%
20%
10%
21%
29%
25%
17%
29%
29%
42%
33%
25% 25%
17%
12%
4%
4%
4%
0%
0%
0%
Item 1
Item 2
Never
Item 3
Item 4
Sometimes
Often
Item 5
Item 6
Always
It can be seen from Figure 1 that the highest strategies chosen by the students
were item number 3 and 4. 71% of the participants chose both items. The scores were
calculated from the total percentage of ‘often’ and ‘always’ option (item 3 had 54%
for ‘often’ and 17% for ‘always’ while item 4 had 42% for ‘often’ and 29% for
‘always’).
The first highest rank in DET was item 3. The similarity of some English
economic vocabulary in Indonesian could be a factor why this item ranked highest.
The participants explained that the resemblance between Indonesian and English
words helped them to guess and understand the meaning of a word. One of the
interviewees stated, “… maknanya memang sama tapi penulisannya lain. Jadi
mungkin kita bisa mengartikan kata itu hampir samalah dengan bahasa Indonesia
itu” (Tr: the meaning is similar but the spelling is different. Thus, we can say that the
meaning of English word is closely matched with Indonesian). For example, the
students already know the word inflasi in Indonesian which means an economic
condition characterized by continuously rising prices (Bennet, 1988, p. 95), so when
the students heard the word inflation, they could guess that inflation means inflasi.
13
Because of the similarity, the students may have associated a new word
with their cognate in Indonesian. Nation (2001) stated that the less similarity of items
and patterns between L1 and foreign language, the more burden of vocabulary
learning (p. 220). In other words, if there are many words which are similar with the
first language, the word learning burden would not be too heavy. Therefore, the
learners can understand a new word easily when the word is similar with their first
language.
Item number 4 also ranked highest in this category. 71% of the participants
chose the item as the strategy they used most. There were some reasons why this
strategy was selected. The first one was the use of English in their textbooks. Almost
all of the textbooks used in this program were written in English. Participant one
stated, “Lesson saya tiap hari kan menggunakan bahasa Inggris. Jadi udah apa ya,
udah sering gitulah” (Tr: My daily lessons use English so I usually guess the word
from the context). The participant frequently met texts, written explanations,
instructions, and tasks in English. Therefore, the students often find new words while
reading the text books and then apply strategy of guessing meaning from the context.
The second reason was because a definition of an economic word in
economic context could be different from dictionary meaning. Participant 4
commented,
There are some words which have two meanings in English.
Sometimes the definition in the dictionary will be different with
what is meant by the author of the book I read. Therefore, it is
better to read the whole paragraph to understand what is meant by
the author in this book.
14
Nation (2008) stated, “Most technical words occur only in one specialized
area, but some technical words can occur in other areas, some with the same meaning
and some with different meaning.” (p. 10). Hence, guessing from the context was
often used because the definition of technical words could be different with definition
in dictionary. The last reason was the context could help them understand the
meaning of a word. The context and words were considered as clues to help them
guess the meaning of a word. Carton (1971) mentioned that cues could be based on
the text and knowledge of English.
In contrast, item one had the lowest rank. 38% of the participants chose
this strategy. Only 17% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 21% of them choose
‘always’. This item ranked lowest because the participants were not students of
English. They did not have any vocabulary class to learn and test their vocabulary.
Therefore, they only needed to know the meaning without paying attention to the
form of its word. As what has been said by a participant, “Knowing a word belongs to
verb, noun, or adjective is not influential. Knowing the meaning is enough.”
A similar result was found by Khasawneh (2012) who conducted the
research on Jordan University of Science and technology. Guessing from textual
context also ranked highest. The use of English in their text books could be the
reason of why this research has same result with the present study. The textbooks
written in English could provide many opportunities for them to use guessing from
the text. Moreover, like the meaning of economic words, the meaning of vocabulary
in science and technology could also be different with the ones in dictionary. Thus,
the participants on his study guessed the meaning from the context.
15
Social Strategy
There were four items under Social strategy:
Item 7: Ask the teacher to translate the meaning of a word that I do not
understand.
Item 8: Ask the teacher for synonyms or similar meanings of new word.
Item 9: Ask the teacher for definition.
Item10: Ask classmates.
Figure 2: Students’ use of Social Strategies:
67%
70%
60%
58%
54%
50%
40%
38%
33%
20%
10%
29%
25%
30%
13%
17%
25%
17%
8%
0%
8%
8%
0%
0%
Item 7
Item 8
Never
Item 9
Sometimes
Often
Item 10
Always
It can be seen from Figure 2 that item number nine ranked highest in SOC
strategy. 75% of the participants chose this item. The score was calculated from the
total percentage of ‘often’ and ‘always’. 67% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 8%
chose ‘always’.
A reason why item nine ranked highest was the belief that all lecturers were
experts in economy. The economic background of the lecturers could have been the
reason for students to trust the teachers. It indicates that a teacher is considered as a
credible source. The interviewees explained that the teachers could provide clear and
correct definition of a new word. Participant one and four added, the teacher’s
explanation is more specific and suitable than the one in dictionary because
16
sometimes economic words have different meaning or cannot be found in general
dictionary. Nation (2008) explained that specialized words are commonly found in a
certain area but rarely found in other areas (p. 12). It means, only someone familiar
with economic words can provide suitable definition of an economic word. In
addition, the use of English as a medium of instruction in classroom provided the
opportunities for the participants to ask about word definition to the teacher.
In contrast, item number eight had the lowest rank. 25% of the participants
chose this strategy. Only 17% of the participants chose ‘often’ and 8% of them chose
‘always’. It happened because what was needed by the participants as ESP students
was only to know the meaning of a word. Participant two and four commented the
definition given by teacher was clear. Therefore, knowing the synonym of the word
was not crucial. Moreover, the participants did not specifically learn English. They
used English as a means in learning process. In addition, an interviewee stated,
“Synonym of economic word is hardly found.” This could also explain why this
strategy was barely used.
A different finding was shown in the research conducted by Khasawneh
(2012) where the students mostly chose “Ask teacher for L1 translate” and “Ask
classmates for meaning”. The different results could be caused by the frequency of
using English in the classroom. How often English is used as the medium of
instruction and communication in teaching and learning process could contribute to
the different result. Another factor was his participants may feel more comfortable
asking friends than asking the teacher.
17
Strategies for consolidating a word once it has been encountered:
Social Strategy
There were two items under Social strategy:
Item 11: Study the word with my classmates
Item 12: Talk with Native English speaker
Figure 3: Students’ use of Social Strategies:
70%
59%
55%
60%
50%
40%
33%
29%
30%
20%
10%
8%
4%
4%
8%
0%
Item 11
Never
Item 12
Sometimes
Often
Always
From Figure 3 above, it can be seen that 37% of the participants chose item
number eleven and only 12% of the participants chose item number 12.
Most of the students chose item number 11 as the strategy used in this
category. The presence of capable peers helped the students in learning the known
words. The interviewees stated that discussing words with classmates helped them
understand the word. Participant one added, “My friends and I have similar thought
and if we discuss the meaning of a known word, we will make our own definition of
the word. Thus, we can understand the word easier.” Falchikov (2001) stated,
“Interaction with peers can result… an increase in knowledge and understanding.” By
discussing new words with friends, the participants can develop their knowledge and
understanding of the word. Participant 2 added, discussing with classmates did not
18
only help them to understand the meaning easily but also it could help them remember
the meaning easily. This shows that the students can easily remember the new words if
they discuss the vocabulary with their friends because the language is easier to
comprehend.
Different from item eleven, item twelve placed second rank in SOC. The
result showed that only 12% of the participants chose item number twelve. The
absence of native English speaker with Economic background could be the factor of
why this strategy was least chosen by the students. There is only one native English
teacher in their faculty. The teacher only teaches general English and does not have
any economic background. In his class, the participants only learnt about writing
skills, western culture in business, and speaking skill. All of the interviewees
commented that they never discussed about economic words with the teacher because
the classes he taught were not economic subject. In addition, they rarely interacted
with English native speaker outside the classroom. With this condition, the
participants lost the opportunities to interact with English native speaker in order to
remember the economic vocabulary.
The result differed with the study conducted by Khasawneh (2012). At his
study, the students mostly chose “Discover new meaning through group work
activity”. The different result was obtained because the participants in the present
study did not have special class to learn about economic vocabulary. Therefore,
discovering new meaning through group work activity was not included in the
questionnaire and did not become the highest strategy chosen in the present study.
However, studying meaning with friends placed the second rank in Khasawneh’s
study.
19
Memory Strategy
There were ten items under Memory strategy:
Item 13: Connect the word with my previous experience.
Item 14: Group the word based on its affixes (e.g. grouping the all words with
suffix re- in one group, -ment in one group, etc)
Item 15: Group the word by its form (verb, noun, adjective, etc)
Item 16: Look for its synonym and antonym.
Item 17: Remember the new word by connecting with the words I have learnt
before.
Item 18: Try to make a sentence using the word.
Item 19: Group the word based on topic.
Item 20: Remember the word by studying and paying attention to its spelling.
Item 21: Make my own definition for the word
Item 22: Pronounce the word.
Figure 4: Students’ use of Memory Strategies:
80%
67%
70%
58%
60%
46%
50%
42%
38%
33%
33%
29%
29%
33%
29%
29%
25%
21%
25%
21%
21%
20%
13%
10%
0%
0%
0%
46%
42%
42%
40% 33%
30%
58%
54%
4%
21%
17%
12%
4%
0% 0%
21%
13%
8%
12%
4%
12%
4%
Item 13 Item 14 Item 15 Item 16 Item 17 Stat. 18 Item 19 Item 20 Item 21 Item 22
Never
Sometimes
20
Often
Always
From Figure 4 above, the result shows that item number twenty ranked
highest. 79% of the participants chose this strategy. In the other hands, only 25% of
the participants chose item number fifteen. Similar with item number 15, item number
19 was also in the lowest place. Only 25% of the participants chose this strategy.
Learning and paying attention to word’s spelling made the participants feel
easier to recall the words. Participant five commented that paying attention to the
word’s spelling helped her remember the word. Participant one added “So, if next time
I find the word again, I will easily remember the meaning.” According to Akbari
(2011), “… proper knowledge of spelling are a great help to memorize words.” This
indicates that by learning word’s spelling, the participants can easily remember the
meaning of the word in the future. In addition, studying and paying attention to the
words also can help the students in writing the word correctly as stated by participant
two. The strategy did not only help the participants to remember the word but also
helped the students to know how to write the word correctly. Gu (2003) stated that
knowing a word is also knowing its form. In other words, understanding the word does
not only mean knowing its meaning but also knowing its form.
In contrast, only 25% of the participants chose grouping the word based on its
form such as grouping all verbs in one group and noun in one group. The reason was
because the participants were not the students who specially learnt about English.
They were not language learners who needed to know the detail information about a
word. The participants only needed to know the meaning of the word. As what has
been stated above, English was a medium of instruction and communication in
classroom. Therefore, they did not need to group the word based on its form to study
or remember the meaning. Participant four added, grouping the word into its form was
21
complicated. It means using this kind of strategy may not be effective and wasting
time.
25% of the students also chose strategy number nineteen. The first factor
causing the strategy to rank low was, there were many words in a topic or unit found
in other topics. All of the interviewees stated that a word in a particular chapter could
be found in the following chapters. Participant four gave an example “For example in
the micro economics class, we often asked to make graphs and there is a line called
‘budget line’ and ‘constraint’. When I checked my textbook, then I found out that the
word ‘budget line’ was also there.” Therefore, the participants did not classify the
words based on the topic in order to remember the meaning. The second factor was,
they did not have enough time to classify the words based on its chapter. Seventeen to
nineteen credits in a trimester and ten hours tutoring made them very busy. Thus,
grouping words based on topic was considered as time consuming as stated by
Participant two. Moreover, they did not have vocabulary test, so they did not need to
remember specialized vocabulary based on its topic.
A different result was founded in the study conducted by Khasawneh (2012).
The highest rank was connecting the word in its synonyms and antonyms. In contrast,
this strategy was low in the present study because it was difficult to find the synonym
or antonym of economic words. Participant one stated “It was hard to find the synonym
of economic word.” The situation was different with Khasawneh’s study where there
might be many synonyms or antonyms found in science and technology field.
22
Cognitive Strategy
There were 7 items under Cognitive strategy:
Item 23: Say the word repeatedly.
Item 24: Write the word repeatedly.
Item 25: Make word list.
Item 26: Use flashcard.
Item 27: Take notes.
Item 28: Underline the word.
Item 29: Keep a vocabulary notebook wherever you go.
Figure 5: Students’ use of Cognitive Strategies:
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
79%
63%
55%
46%
42% 42%
38%
42%
38%
38%
33%
33%
4%
12%
Item 23
12%
12%
4%
8%
Item 24
25%
21%
21%
Item 25
Never
8%
0% 0%
Item 26
Sometimes
Often
Item 27
8%
4%
Item 28
8%
4%
Item29
Always
From the Figure above, item number twenty eight was chosen by most
participants. 59% of the participants chose this item. In contrast, item number twenty
six ranked lowest in Cognitive strategy. No one of the participants chose item number
twenty six as their strategy.
Item number twenty eight was chosen by most participants. Underlining a
word helped the participants to recall the new word. Participant one commented
“Underlining economic words helped me to understand the points of the words
23
effortlessly while reviewing. I could easily remember the meaning of the words.”
Hassanvand et al. (2012) stated that underlining the word can help the students in
guessing and recognizing new words. Thus, the students have significant
understanding of the words (p. 353). It indicates that underlining new words do not
only help the students to understand the new words, but it also helps the students to
remember the new words. Participant two added “Underlining word help me
remember the word easily and the word is important so it could be repeated again and
again, so recalling vocabulary by underlying the word is needed.” It means giving
mark by underlining the word can also be a reminder that the word is important and
needed to learn repeatedly. Moreover, by underlining the word, students will be able to
find certain word easily when they want to study later.
In contrast, item number twenty six ranked lowest. Using flashcard was
considered as complicated and time consuming. Even though three of the interviewees
knew what flashcard was, they never used flashcard to learn vocabulary. All of the
interviewees stated that they did not have time to make a flashcard. Moreover, two
participants preferred remembering the words by taking notes or underlying the word
than recalling the word by using flashcard. It shows that the participants use simple
and instant way to remember new economic vocabulary.
Different result was shown by research conducted by Khasawneh (2012)
where verbal repetition was chosen by most participants. However, this strategy was
also rated as a high strategy in the present study because verbal repetition placed the
second rank in Cognitive strategy.
24
Meta-Cognitive Strategy
There were 4 items under Meta-Cognitive strategy:
Item 30: Use English media (news, news broadcasting, internet, magazine, video,
etc).
Item 31: Test myself with word test.
Item 32: Skip or pass new word which likely does not need to study.
Item 33: Continue to study the word overtime.
Figure 6: Students’ use of Memory Strategies:
60%
54%
50%
46%
50%
38%
40%
33%
33%
29%
30%
29%
21%
21%
20%
13%
12%
8%
10%
8%
4%
0%
0%
Item 30
Item 31
Never
Sometimes
Item 32
Often
Item 33
Always
It can be seen from Figure six that item number thirty is the highest rank in
MET. 59% of the participants chose this item. In contrast, item number thirty two
ranked the lowest. Only 33% of the participants chose this strategy.
Using English media supported the students in learning vocabulary. The
interview result showed that by using English media such as internet, newspaper,
video, and magazine helped the students remember vocabulary easily. Many English
media provides context, so the students can learn certain word easily. Context could
help them understand more about new words. As participant four stated “Actually
there are some economic words which are unique. Therefore, I use other media such as
internet and magazine so in the internet there are some websites which help me to
25
understand two things, English and economy… So, I often read English articles and
news about economics.”
The presence of English media can also be seen as an alternative for students’
vocabulary learning. As what has been stated by participant three that he used English
media such as the internet or videos when he was bored with the explanation from
teacher and handbooks. From all of English media mentioned in the questionnaire,
internet was the English medium chosen most frequently. Easy access and economical
factor could be the reasons why the internet was mostly used in this present study. The
students can browse any materials needed anywhere and anytime. The Internet makes
the students to be more independent in their vocabulary learning as what has been
stated by Brahja (2013, p. 660).
In contrast, few participants chose item number thirty two. The participants
perceived that all economic words were important to learn. The interview showed that
all of the participants agreed that all of economic words were important to remember.
Participant one stated “If I did not know only a word in English sentence, it could
affect our understanding to that sentence. Then, we cannot get the point.” It proved
that for them, knowing all of economic vocabulary was crucial. Moreover, economic
words were continuously used in their future work. Hence, they thought that all of the
economic words were necessary.
Different result was shown in the research conducted by Khasawneh (2012)
in Jordan University of Science and Technology. His study showed that continue to
study word overtime was considered as the highest strategy chosen by the participants.
26
Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion
As what has been stated above, the aim of the present study was to find what
vocabulary learning strategies used by the students of Economic International Program of
Satya Wacana Christian University in learning specialized vocabulary. To find the answer
for the present research, a questionnaire was administered and an interview was conducted.
The study found that the students of Economic International Program chose
checking if the word is also an Indonesian word. E.g.: debit, Indonesia: debit and guessing
word’s meaning from the context (DET), asking the teacher to give definition (SOC),
studying the word with my classmates (SOC), remembering the word by studying and
paying attention to its spelling (MEM), underlining the word (COG), and using English
media such as news, news broadcasting, internet, magazine, or video (MET).
The participants chose vocabulary learning strategies which were practical, fast,
and simple but efficient to discover and remember new words such as guessing the
meaning from the context, asking the teacher for definition, studying the meaning with
friends, underlining words, and using other English media. The finding indicates that what
is important for the participants is only to know the meaning of the new words. Therefore,
using flashcard, grouping the word according to topic, and classifying the word into its
form were least chosen in the present study since those were considered as time
consuming. Moreover, the participants did not have special class or test of economic
vocabulary. In other words, English in ESP context is used as a medium of instruction to
achieve their future goal. Akbari (2011) stated, “ESP students learn English as a means to
achieve their subject-specific and ultimately their occupational goals.”
27
Overall, it is hoped that the findings of the present study could be useful for ESP
students to enrich their vocabulary which could be beneficial for understanding the
materials. As what has been stated that the seven strategies chosen by the participants
showed that they tended to use practical, simple, and fast strategies to understand the
lessons. Besides that, the participants also perceived that the strategies chosen were
efficient for them to comprehend the meaning of new words. Therefore, by using those
strategies, the participants could understand the materials being taught. It is hoped that the
strategies used by the participants are also useful for other ESP students to comprehend the
materials.
It is also hoped that the present study could be used as a reference for ESP teachers
to help the learners who find difficulties in comprehending the meaning of vocabulary in
ESP context. The teachers could suggest or teach the students to use the strategies from the
present study. Moreover, the teachers can also direct the students to be independent
learners by introducing and teaching the students to apply the vocabulary learning
strategies in learning technical words.
Recommendation for Learning Vocabulary
The recommendation that could be drawn from the results of this
study is: ESP students could use strategies of learning vocabulary which are simple
and fast but efficient for them in understanding the technical words since English is
used as the medium of instruction in their learning process. Besides that, the students
also can utilize all facilities, media, and sources around them such as textbooks,
internet, teacher and classmates to support their vocabulary understanding. Thus, by
using simple strategies, the students could comprehend the meaning of new words
without spending much time in learning specialized words. Besides that, VLSs may
help the students to be independent learners.
28
Improvement of Further Research
The present study has one thing that needs to be improved for the further research.
The further study can examine the effectiveness of the vocabulary learning strategies found
in this study. Close- and open-ended questionnaire, a test, and in-depth interview can be
conducted to find how effective the strategies chosen for discovering, remembering, and
producing technical words in ESP. Including an open-ended and in-depth interview can
give students more space to deliver more detail information that might help the researcher
to enrich the data for the finding.
Limitation of the Study
There are some limitations during conducting the present study. First, the
participants of this present study were only 24 students of Economic International
Program. The number of the participants was very limited because Economic International
Program is a new program in Satya Wacana which was established in 2013. Second, the
research was done only in one semester. Because the program is a new program which was
established last year, the research was conducted only in a short period.
29
Acknowledgement
I believe this thesis would not have been finished and completed without much help
and support from my beloved people. First of all, I would like to say thanks to my
Almighty Lord, Jesus Christ, who never leaves me alone in every bad and good
circumstance. I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. I Gusti Astika,
M.A. who was abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance, and guidance.
Deepest gratitude is also due to my examiner, Anita Kurniawati H., M.Hum. Without her
knowledge and assistance, this study would not have been completed. I would like to thank
to all lecturers, staff, and students of Economic International Program. Without their
participation, I would not be able to finish this study. I also wish to express my great love
and gratitude to Mom, Dad, my grandmothers, Pak Tri, and all of my family for the never
ending support and prayers. I would also like to thank to all lecturers and staff of English
Department for all valuable and great supports, knowledge, and experiences. Finally, I
would also like to thank all my friends; Ester, Dyah, Dessy, Tenners, BASE, and ShED for
all amazing supports and motivations.
Salatiga, March 19th , 2014
Tia Arsita Desiana
30
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