The Patterns of Vocabulary Learning Strategies Employed by EFL Learners at Jordan University of Science and Technology

Several factors have been found to account for the use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). However, few studies have been conducted on the patterns of VLS used by Jordanian students and the factors that might affect such use. This study investigates the patterns of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) used by students at Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST)in relation to their gender, language proficiency, academic major, and previous vocabulary learning strategies instruction. The participants of this study were 738 undergraduate students from 3 faculties: Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture at JUST. The research instruments were a strategy questionnaire adopted from Schmitt‘s (1997) taxonomy for vocabulary learning, and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that Jordanian university students used a medium range of strategies. Determination strategies were the most preferred strategies whereas cognitive strategies were the least frequently used strategies. Language proficiency and previous VLSs instruction had significant influences on the overall strategy use, while gender and academic major did not affect the overall strategy use of EFL Jordanian university students. In addition, the present study examines the relationship between metacognitive strategies instruction and vocabulary learning of JUST students through a 10 week training program. Tests based on Nation‘s multiple-choice test of vocabulary knowledge (1990) were used in this study. A total of 60 students participated in the experiment; one class of 30 which received metacognitive strategies instruction formed the experimental group; the other class of 30 students which received normal training comprised the control group. The results indicated that the experimental group surpassed the control group in the post-training vocabulary test. The findings of this study provide some pedagogical implications for English teachers and curriculum designers which could be beneficial to understand the VLSs currently employed by Jordanian university students.