Investigating Intentional Vocabulary Learning Strategies

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the role played by strategies for effective intentional vocabulary learning. The study also considered briefly the role of unintentional strategies but the focal point has been the investigation of the intentional strategies. A pre and post test have been conducted to categorize the participants into two groups. A questionnaire was also administered to the tutor at Sudan University of Science and Technology. The research has more exactly addressed the use of dictionaries and authentic materials to maximize the lot of the students of word power. The present research is significant as it bridges the gap created by previous studies in the area in question in respect to the method of analysis and the size of the sample. The sample has been taken from 2nd year of Sudan University, College of Languages. The research poses certain questions in connection with the role of intentional vocabulary learning strategies and how the strategies can be developed and incorporated into teaching plans to further be used in classroom settings. A triplet set of approaches has been advocated. The first one is incidental learning (i.e., learning vocabularies that come up as a result of other activities in the other skills of reading...), and the second is intentional or explicit instruction, while the third set is independent strategy development. Furthermore, the study assumed that there is a relationship between the vocabularies that come up as a result of other activities in other skills of reading and those vocabularies taught intentionally. The statistical and historical approach has been adopted in the present research. One of the most important findings is that there is a direct correlation between intentional vocabulary learning and understanding of English texts.