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Cited by 16Second Language Acquisition and LearningEFL/ESL Teaching and LearningReading and Literacy Development

Investigation of Vocabulary Learning Strategies to Identify Word Meanings for Saudi EFL Students in Reading Context

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Abdulmalik Ali, Mohammed·2020·Arab World English Journal
DOI 10.24093/awej/vol11no3.9

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Abstract

This study attempted to answer the following research questions related to the various vocabulary discovery strategies which are used by Saudi undergraduate learners to find unknown word meanings, the most and the least vocabulary discovery strategies the learners used to discover unknown word meanings, the relationship between the type of Vocabulary Learning Strategies used and the scores the learners accomplished on the vocabulary test, and effectiveness of the learner control and the teacher control strategy in enhancing learners’ ability to discover meanings of unknown words. Answering these questions of the study are expected to help language instructors determine the most feasible vocabulary learning strategies to help their students improve their vocabulary and so their language competences. Through purposive sampling, a group of 50 male students participated in this descriptive and analytic type of study. A questionnaire and a vocabulary test were used to collect data. The findings of the study revealed that in understanding a reading text, EFL Saudi students tend to figure out the meanings of unknown words, mainly by guessing word-meanings through different sub-strategies. The least used was the social interaction strategy. It was also found that students’ scores on the vocabulary test significantly correlated (positively and negatively) with the type of strategy they used. This study concluded that it is vital for teachers and textbook writers to design more activities to train students on the use of effective vocabulary learning strategies, mainly guessing through socially linked contextual clues.

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Cited by

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Authors
Abdulmalik Ali, M.
Venue
Arab World English Journal
Publisher
AWEJ Publishing
Published
2020-09-15
Volume
11
Issue
3
Pages
149-169
ISSN
2229-9327 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.24093/awej/vol11no3.9
OpenAlex
W3091895990
Cited by
16
References
1
Citations by year
2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
FWCI
3.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Arab World English Journal (publishedVersion)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University
  • Loughborough University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
Keywords
vocabulary learning strategies, EFL learners, reading comprehension, context clues, learner control, teacher control, vocabulary test scores, social interaction strategies

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