2017 IJRSLL – Volume 6 Issue 1
Author/s:
Thékes, István*
University of Szeged, Hungary (jerrythekes@gmail.com)
Abstract:
Research in the domain of vocabulary gained impetus in the 1980s.The popularity of word knowledge assessment has increased in the past 30 years. Even though the construct of learning strategies is another significant and well-researched domain in educational science, the intersecting construct, vocabulary learning strategies are rather under-researched (Schmitt, 2000, p. 44). An attempt is also made to fill in this gap. The study was carried with the participation of 86 Hungarian 6th graders in primary schools. A self-report 52-item questionnaire was developed so that the most frequently used vocabulary learning strategies would be mapped in depth. The questionnaire consisted of five factors. Item-analysis and factor analysis were conducted to examine how each item functioned and whether the factor classification of the questionnaire was justified. Results indicate that some of the items have low item-total correlation value and the original factor classification is not reflected by what we found in the factor analysis. Based on this pilot study a new questionnaire was developed by replacing items. Further findings are discussed.
Keywords: vocabulary; learning strategies; young learners; quantitative research; empirical study
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5861/ijrsll.2016.1359
*Corresponding Author