ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES PREFERRED BY L2 LEARNERS FROM DIFFERENT ACADEMIC MAJORS

Abstract

The research aims to determine whether Turkish L2 learners of English use specific vocabulary learning strategies, and whether there is any effect in use of vocabulary learning strategies by the learners from different academic majors such as Social Sciences, Turkish-Math and Sciences. The data were collected by vocabulary learning questionnaire (adapted from Schmitt, 1997) in pen-and-paper environment. The results showed that the L2 learners used vocabulary learning strategies during language learning, and the participants preferred cognitive strategies more commonly, but interestingly, Science group preferred metacognitive strategies as much as the mentioned one. Furthermore, social and memory strategies were the least popular strategies for all participants. Thus, the academic majors can be concluded as an effective factor from the perspective of vocabulary learning strategies.