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Description
Understanding vocabulary learning strategies among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students is crucial for teachers to align instruction with learners’ actual practices, thereby improving vocabulary teaching and learning. While previous studies have examined such strategies extensively (e.g., Ghalebi et al., 2020; Rahmani, 2023), they often overlooked how strategies related to different aspects of vocabulary knowledge and the processes through which that knowledge was developed. This study addresses this gap by examining vocabulary learning strategies through Nation’s (2001) taxonomy, which organizes strategies as a matrix linking aspects of word knowledge with relevant sources and learning processes. The research was conducted to explore students’ difficulties in vocabulary learning and strategies they use to learn vocabulary. A quantitative research design was employed, using a Likert-scale questionnaire based on Nation’s (2001) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies. Participants are 250 English-major students at a foreign language university in Vietnam. The findings reveal that although students shared some common difficulties in vocabulary learning such as lack of time, lack of learning materials and motivation, their preferable learning strategies are various. In addition, it is realized that there is no correlation between students’ use of strategies to learn vocabulary with their GPA. The study offers some pedagogical implications for vocabulary instruction and the development of students’ English proficiency in EFL contexts.
Key words: vocabulary learning strategies; Nation’s (2001) taxonomy; vocabulary learning difficulties; Vietnamese English-major students
References
Ghalebi, R., Sadighi, F., & Bagheri, M. S. (2020). Vocabulary learning strategies: A comparative study of EFL learners. Cogent Psychology, 7(1), Article 1824306. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2020.1824306
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Vocabulary learning strategies and guessing from context. In Learning Vocabulary in Another Language (pp. 217–262). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524759.009
Rahmani, S. (2023). Vocabulary learning beliefs and strategies of Afghan EFL undergraduate learners. Cogent Education, 10(1), Article 2194227. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2194227
Biography
Luu Ngoc Bao Trang holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language Teaching (2022) and a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Language (2023), both from University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang. She is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in TESOL at Monash University. Her academic interests include TESOL, Cognitive Linguistics, and teacher identity.
Doan Ngoc Hoang Long is a lecturer of Vietnam-Korean University of Information and Communication Technology, The University of Danang. He earned his Master degree in Artificial Intelligence from Monash University. His academic background is centered on advanced topics in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on building intelligent systems that learn from data and visual information. His research interests include reinforcement learning, computer vision, deep learning, and the application of artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems.
Luu Ngoc Bao Thi is a final-year student at University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang, whose main research interests are English language teaching and English linguistics. Thi has participated in and achieved outstanding results in student scientific research competitions, including a Second Prize at the ministerial level in 2023, a Third Prize at the ministerial level in 2025, and a Consolation Prize at the city level in 2025.
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