RETENTION AND ATTRITION IN EFL VOCABULARY LEARNING

Abstract

The present descriptive and exploratory study aims to explore the effectiveness of Vocabulary Learning Strategies used by final year school students and to test their retention of the target words thereby measuring their vocabulary size. It is based on the works of Oxford (1990) and Schmitt (1997). A vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire adapted from Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy was used to gather data on the students’ use of five identified Vocabulary Learning strategies : Determination (DET), Social (SOC), Memory (MEM), Cognitive (COG) and Metacognitive (MET) strategies . A Vocabulary Achievement test was used to evaluate their word retention . A questionnaire to teachers was designed to elicit their attitude towards vocabulary teaching and the recall strategies taught for long term vocabulary retention. The results demonstrate that: 1. ‘Shallow’ strategies ( ‘taking notes’, ‘guessing from context’ and ‘asking classmates’) did not cause retention as they did not require manipulation of vocabulary . 2. At a receptive level, students used ‘bilingual dictionary’, ‘guessing from context’ and ’asking classmates’ strategies to comprehend the meaning of unknown words. 3. At a productive level , ‘discovery’ strategies were used. Students avoided strategies involving deep mental processing(such as Keyword Method, Semantic Mapping and Spaced Word Practice )and used strategies which cause attrition. 4. Teachers did not use efficient strategies to help their students increase their word retention. Finally, proposals were made for teachers to improve vocabulary retention in EFL secondary school students.