Unlocking Vocabulary: A study on Students’s Learning Strategies

Abstract

This study examines the vocabulary learning strategies employed by students at SMAN 5 Gorontalo in acquiring English vocabulary, with a particular focus on adjectives such as good, bad, tall, short, beautiful, and ugly. The research investigates the types of strategies used and examines the relationship between these strategies and the students' proficiency levels. A mixed-method approach was applied in the study, whereby quantitative data was collected through a questionnaire based on Oxford's (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and qualitative data was gathered via semi-structured interviews with four selected students, two of whom were high achievers and two of whom were low achievers. The findings indicate that the participants employed a range of vocabulary learning strategies, with social strategies being the most frequently utilized, followed by compensation strategies, cognitive strategies, and metacognitive strategies. The least utilized strategy was memory. The study also revealed that proficient students employed strategies that required greater effort, such as note-taking, seeking assistance, and seeking clarification, while less proficient students relied more on simpler strategies like code-switching and basic memorization. The findings indicate that the distinction in strategy use may be associated with the students' language proficiency, with more efficient strategy use correlating with elevated proficiency levels. This research emphasizes the significance of recognizing students' strategy preferences in the development of effective vocabulary instruction, particularly in rural contexts where English is taught as a foreign language. Additionally, it highlights the necessity for targeted strategy training to assist less proficient students in adopting more effective learning approaches.