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THE STUDENTS ATTITUDES TOWARD VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES

Oleh: Samhudi, S.Pd.I., M.PdDosen STAIN Malikussaleh Lhokseumawesamhudi.stain@gmail.com

AbstractPenelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui bagaimana sikap mahasiswa terhadap strategi dalam belajar kosakata. Data diperoleh dari 30 mahasiswa semester II Program Studi Tadris Bahasa Inggris (TBI) Jurusan Tarbiyah STAIN Malikussaleh Lhokseumawe Tahun Akademik 2012-2013. Peneliti memilih 15 orang mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi (Successful Students) dan 15 orang mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai rendah (Unsuccessful Students). Instrumen dalam penelitian ini adalah kuesioner. Ada 8 item kuesioner yang diberikan kepada mahasiswa. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti menggunakan kuesioner tertutup. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi dan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai rendah memilih strategi yang berbeda dalam belajar kosakata. Kebanyakan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi memilih strategi incidental, seperti belajar kosakata dari teks, dari komunikasi sehari-hari. Terdapat lebih dari 10 mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi memiliki sikap bahwa strategi tersebut sangat bermamfaat bagi mereka. Berbeda dengan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai rendah, mereka lebih memilih strategi decontextualised, seperti strategi pembentukan kata, menggunakan kartu. Selain itu juga mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi dan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai rendah memiliki sikap yang berbeda terhadap mamfaat strategi dalam belajar kosakata. Kebanyakan mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai tinggi memliki sikap bahwa strategi sangat bermamfaat dan sangat membantu mereka dalam belajar kosakata. Sebaliknya sikap mahasiswa yang memiliki nilai rendah terhadap mamfaat strategi dalam belajar vocabulary tidak begitu positif. Kebanyakan mereka berpikir bahwa strategi tidak terlalu bermamfaat dalam belajar vocabulary.

Kata Kunci: Sikap, Kosakata

A. IntroductionVocabulary is the key component of language proficiency which determines of how well students can speak, listen, read, and write in English. Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabularies, students often achieve less than their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to native speakers using the language in different contexts, reading or watching television. A good vocabulary mastery and ability to use words correctly and effectively can help the students make school work easier and more rewarding. The more vocabularies the students know the better their chance in mastering English. Vocabulary is a basis of a language. It is very important to be mastered by the students to speak and understand written materials well. Mastering English will not come true if the students do not master vocabulary well. Vocabulary is the first way in English learning, without having a lot of vocabularies, it is impossible for the student especially English study program students to master the other language skills namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Rivers as quoted from Nunan has also argued that the acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is essential for successful second language use, because without an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use the structures and functions we may have learned for comprehensible communication.[footnoteRef:2] [2: Nunan, David. Language Teaching Methodology. (New York: Prentice Hall International, 1995) P. 117]

Learning vocabulary is very important since vocabulary is an important thing in communication. That is why everybody who learns English or a certain language should know the words. The mastery of vocabulary can support them in speaking when they are communicating to people, write and translate the meaning of words. If they do not know the meaning of words, they will not be able to speak, write and translate anything in English. Based on that statement, it knows that vocabulary is a basic need in communication.Classroom learning setting mainly consists of two parts: teaching and learning. Nowadays the learner-centered theory became very popular. It concerns that students is the main part of the language learning process. In the classroom, the lecturer teaches students under the same condition using the same teaching method. However, some students can acquire the language successfully but some fail to master it. Why does this happen? Wenden and Rubin state that students bring a varied repertoire of learning skills in the process of language learning.[footnoteRef:3] It means that to master a second language, students themselves should use some learning skills to make their learning more effective. Since then language teaching activities have become increasingly learner centered. More and more studies show that apart from teaching methodologies, learner strategies are another important factor that can affect foreign language acquisition included English. They will help students become more autonomous and make the learning process more effective. [3: Wenden, Anita & Joan, Rubin. Learner Strategies in Language Learning. (United Kingdom: Prentice Hall International, 1987) P. 67]

From vocabulary learning aspect, it is very important not only to know the meaning of the word, but also the students have to know all the aspects of the word. However, there are seven degrees of knowing a word posited by Taylor ; (1) knowledge of the frequency of the word in language, (2) knowledge of the register of the word, (3) knowledge of collocation, (4) knowledge of morphology, (5) knowledge of semantics, (6) knowledge of polysemy, and (7) knowledge of the equivalent of the word in the mother tongue.[footnoteRef:4] Some students find it hard to master a word and when they want to express meaning they find it impossible to select a suitable word, whereas the words are not stored separately in the mind. The words are stored systematically in our minds. So knowing the appropriate strategy will help the students acquire vocabulary more easily. [4: Taylor, Linda. Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. (New York: Prentice Hall, 1990) P.102]

This research discusses the strategies used in vocabulary learning and the students attitudes toward these strategies. Therefore, the researcher wants to conduct a research to answer the following research problem; how is the students attitude toward vocabulary learning strategies? While the objective of this research was to investigate the students attitude toward vocabulary learning strategies.

B. Review of Literature 1. AttitudeGardner stated that attitude is an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individuals beliefs or opinions about the referent.[footnoteRef:5] He also classified the term attitude into three interrelated components namely, cognitive, affective and behavioral.[footnoteRef:6] The cognitive component involves the beliefs, thoughts or viewpoints about the object of the attitude. The affective component refers to the individuals feelings and emotions towards an object, whether he/she likes or dislikes. The behavioral component involves the tendency to adopt particular learning behaviors. [5: Gardner, R. On the Validity of Affective Variables in Second Language Acquisition: Conceptual and Statistical Considerations Language Learning, Journal, ed. VII vol. (2)1999, P. 255-270.] [6: Ibid]

Montano also points out, attitude is determined by the individuals beliefs about outcomes or attributes of performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by evaluations of those outcomes or attributes.[footnoteRef:7] Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively valued outcomes will result from performing the behavior will have a positive attitude toward the behavior. Conversely, a person who holds strong beliefs that negatively valued outcomes will result from the behavior will have a negative attitude [7: Montano, http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/emp.html. Accessed on January 10th 2013]

Attitudes are important to the students because they cannot be neatly separated from study. Attitude is considered as an essential factor influencing language performance, included in learning English Vocabulary. Achievement in a target language relies not only on intellectual capacity, but also on the learners attitudes towards language learning. This means that learning language should be approached primarily as a social and psychological phenomenon rather than as a purely academic one. So the ability of the students to master vocabulary is not only influenced by the mental competence or language skills, but also on the students attitudes and perceptions towards the target of learning vocabulary itself.If a learner does not have the interest and tendency in acquiring the target of learning vocabulary, the learner will possess a negative attitude and will not be motivated and enthusiastic in learning. Therefore, students attitudes could incorporate in learning because it may influence their performance in acquiring the target of learning.

2. VocabularyVocabulary is an important part of language learning activities. It includes all the words that normally used when the other language skills are learned. Learning vocabulary does not mean learning word isolation. Word should be learned in context because a word may have different meaning in different context. In fact, word in isolation frequently does not match with the intended meaning, the meaning of the word will be depended on the context itself. This idea is supported by French by saying that to know the English words and their meaning would be useless, unless someone know how the words put together meaningfully in a sentence.[footnoteRef:8] On the other hand, vocabulary growth is based on the students experiences. Words must be associated with the meaning in order to be useful for communication. [8: French, Virginia Allen. 1983. Technique in Teaching Vocabulary. (London: Oxford University Press, 1983) P. 1]

Vocabulary has a significant role in mastering a language. Everyone who wants to master a foreign language included English need to master vocabulary well. Mastering vocabulary is the first step to master English well. Therefore the students who are lack of vocabulary will face difficulties in mastering English. They cannot express their idea as clearly as they want because they are lack of vocabulary, and also they could not understand the lecturers explanation because they do not know the meaning of words used by the lecturer. Moreover, they have problems in understanding books, newspapers, magazines which are written in English, or even in understanding the radio broadcast or television program. So the mastery of a large number of vocabularies are necessary to master a foreign language included English.In other word, vocabulary as a working tool which can help the students to understand completely when they listen or read something. Harmer stated that we should ensure that our students are aware of the vocabulary they need for their level and that they can use the words which they want to use and/or the words we have selected for them to use.[footnoteRef:9] Therefore, the mastery of vocabulary is an important tool to enable students to understand information or explanation. [9: Harmer, Jeremy. 1991. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New Edition. (New York: Longman Ltd, 1991) P.23]

Murdiono said that vocabulary is one of language aspect beside grammar and pronunciation which functions as a tool to support the ability to communicate in English.[footnoteRef:10] Vocabulary could be as the medium of communication to one self. In other words, vocabulary is also as a vehicle that makes it easier to conduct any activity concerned with other language skill namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing. According to Ur vocabulary can be defined roughly as the words we teach in foreign language.[footnoteRef:11] [10: Murdiono, Belajar Mengajar Kosakata, (Jakarta: Bina Aksara, 2002) P. 16] [11: Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996) P. 60]

In an introduction, Richard and Renandya stated that vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well students speak, listen, read and write.[footnoteRef:12] While Hornby in Advanced Students Dictionary of Current English (1989: 142) defined vocabulary as a total number of words that make up a language body of word know to a person or used it for a particular book, subject and test of word used in book.[footnoteRef:13] [12: Richard, Jack. C and Renandya, Willy. A. Methodology in Language Teaching, An Anthology of Current Practice. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002) P. 255 ] [13: Hornby, AS. Oxford Learners Dictionary of Currant English. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) P. 142]

Based on some definitions given above, it can be concluded that vocabulary is list of words which functioned as tool to communicate and it is used in written and spoken language. Vocabulary can help the student especially English study program students in mastering the others language skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is clear enough that everybody who learns a language as a foreign language is hoped to know and master the vocabulary to improve the language skills. So when someone interests to learn a foreign language they must master vocabulary well, because in all language aspects vocabulary is needed. Vocabulary becomes a major problem in learning English especially to English university students, when they have good ability in mastering vocabulary, they will be easier in mastering any aspect of English.

3.Learning strategiesEllis defines learning strategies as how students accumulate new second language rules and how they automate existing ones. This process can be conscious or subconscious.[footnoteRef:14] He further explains it as the mental processes of acquiring and using the second language. They are the techniques, approaches, methods, or intentional actions students take to fully acquire the target of language. A good user of learning strategies can be a good self-lecturer. [14: Ellis, Rod. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985) P. 299]

Rubin classifies the strategies in to three kinds according to their contributions to language learning, they are; (1) learning strategies, (2) communication strategies and (3) social strategies.[footnoteRef:15] Learning strategies can directly contribute to language learning but communication strategies and social strategies only contribute to language learning in an indirect way. [15: Rubin, Joan. What the Good Language Learner Can Teach Us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41-51.1975]

Two major kinds of learning strategies have been recognized recently, they are; (1) cognitive learning strategies and (2) metacognitive learning strategies.[footnoteRef:16] The former one refers to the steps or operations used in language learning or problem-solving that requires direct analysis, translation, or synthesis of learning materials, while the latter one refers to the knowledge of cognitive process and regulation of cognition or executive control or self-management through such process as planning, monitoring and evaluating. [16: Ibid]

Then, further classifies cognitive strategies into six categories, they are: 1. Clarification/verification. It refers to those strategies which students use toverify or clarify their understanding of new language.2. Guessing/inductive inference. Those are the strategies used to obtain new language knowledge using the concept and knowledge that students already have.3. Deductive reasoning. It is a problem-solving strategy. Students use the general rules to approach the second language.4. Practice. It refers to strategies which contribute to the storage and retrieval of language while focusing on accuracy of usage.5. Memorization. It is strategies used for storing the target language knowledge.6. Monitoring. It refers to the strategies in which students notice errors and correct them. The second type of strategy is called communication strategies.[footnoteRef:17] [17: Ibid]

It does not contribute to the language learning directly as the metacognitive strategies and cognitive strategies do. However, it stresses the effect of practicing and focuses on the process of taking part in the conversation.[footnoteRef:18] [18: Ibid, P. 26]

The third type is social strategies. Rubin defined it as the activities that afford students the opportunities to be exposed to the target language.[footnoteRef:19] It does not contribute to the language leaning directly either. However, different from the communication strategies, social strategies do not provide opportunities to practice the knowledge they learnt. [19: Ibid, P. 27]

Concerning vocabulary learning, Nation develops a general classification of vocabulary learning strategies.[footnoteRef:20] The first one is planning, which is to choose what to focus on and when to focus on. There are some researches showing that students who are aware of what they are planning to learn are more likely to succeed. When learning vocabulary, choosing certain aspects of word (usually meaning but for listening and writing, the form of word is also needed to be paid attention to) to focus on and using varieties strategies can make learning process more efficient. Repetition is another important strategy for vocabulary learning. Planning for repetition is useful of strengthen the memorization of vocabulary. [20: Nation, Paul & Newton Jonathan. Teaching Vocabulary, Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) P. 218]

The second vocabulary learning strategy is sources, which is finding information about words. Analyzing word parts is a useful strategy, because being familiar with the stems and affixes is useful for remembering word forms, guessing from context and seeking relations between words. Guessing form context is another important strategy of learning vocabulary. Meanwhile, consulting reference sources properly and using parallels can also be helpful in acquiring vocabulary. The third vocabulary learning strategy is processes, which is establishing vocabulary knowledge. Noticing is a widely used way of recording vocabulary, and it can be a very useful first step for further learning of vocabulary. Retrieving strengthen the connection between the word meaning and its form. It is superior to noticing. Generating is the production of the word. It is the further step of learning process.

C. Research MethodThis research was conducted at English study program, Tarbiyah Department of STAIN Malikussaleh Lhokseumawe. In this research, the researcher chose only one class at the second semester as the subject of his research. It is unit three which is consisted of 46 students. Then the researcher chose 30 students, 15 of them from high level of academic achievement (successful students), and 15 of them from low level of academic achievement (unsuccessful students).To get the data about the students attitudes toward vocabulary learning strategies, the researcher prepared the questionnaires. There were 8 items of questionnaires would be given to the students. They are about the strategies they would use when they learn vocabulary. The first of 7 questions describe learning strategies and ask the students to choose from the four choices rating from very useful, useful, slightly useful, and not useful at all according to their own studying experience. Multiple choices are used in the 7 questions because it is easy to control the answers of the students and the researcher can get the results he expected. The eighth question is an open answer question. There might be strategies that are not mentioned in the former 7 questions but are used widely by the students. The last question is designed to be a what- question in order to give the students a chance to express their own opinions.

D. Data Analysis and Discussion of Results 1. Data AnalysisThe analysis of students attitudes toward vocabulary learning strategies was done based on the result of questionnaires and interview given to the students. The researcher gave 8 items of questionnaires. The students were asked to choose the appropriate choice based on their experience in learning vocabulary. The questionnaires were arranged from positive option (very useful) to negative option (not useful at all) toward vocabulary learning strategies.

a. Learning Vocabulary from ContextNation mentions that learning from guessing word meanings from context is the most important strategy of all the sources of vocabulary learning. It belongs to cognitive learning strategy.[footnoteRef:21] It can contribute to the learning process directly. Context can connect the word knowledge to the knowledge that students already have. It is a useful way for learning the learning a foreign language. [21: Ibid, P. 232]

Successful students tend to prefer learning vocabulary in context. Most of them think it the most useful strategy of acquiring vocabulary. However, less successful students seem not to notice the benefit of this strategy.

Figure 1 Effectiveness of learning vocabulary in contextFrom Figure above, it can be seen that among 15 successful students, 12 successful students think learning vocabulary in context is a very useful strategy, compared to 5 among unsuccessful students. Only3 of the successful students see it as a useful strategy. However, most unsuccessful students think it is just useful. None of the successful students thinks it is slightly useful or useless. However, there are 2 unsuccessful students who think it is slightly useful. Through the data presentation above, students attitudes towards learning vocabulary in context are clearly seen. Students who are more successful are more likely to use context to learn vocabulary.

b. Learning Vocabulary through CommunicationLearning vocabulary through communication is an important strategy. It belongs to communicate strategy according to Rubins classification of strategies. Though it does not contribute to vocabulary learning directly, it allows students to be exposed to the target language. In this process, students can produce the utterance and test the knowledge they have learnt.[footnoteRef:22] Learning vocabulary in daily life is supposed to be a very useful strategy. However, successful students and unsuccessful students have different attitudes about it. [22: Rubin, JoanP. 26]

Figure 2 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary through Communication

In figure 2 above, it can be seen that 11 of 15 successful students think communication is a very useful strategy in learning vocabulary, 4 unsuccessful students think same about that. 2 successful students and 5 unsuccessful students think it is just useful. It is the same number with those who think it is slightly useful. None of the successful students think it is useless but there is 1 unsuccessful learner who thinks it is not useful at all.

c. Learning Vocabulary in Daily LifeLearning vocabulary in daily life is mainly about noticing the word. It belongs to social strategy and does not contribute to learning directly. Incidental focus is a very useful way of learning vocabulary. In daily life, there are so many chances to encounter English. This may be helpful for students to learn vocabulary. The result of the questionnaire shows that successful students tend to think learning in daily life is very useful. However, unsuccessful students do not prefer this kind of strategy.

Figure 3 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary in Daily Life

From figure 3 above, it can be seen that 12 out of 15 successful students think learning in daily life is a very useful way to acquire vocabulary, compared to 4 of the unsuccessful students. Only 3 successful students think it is useful. However, 6 unsuccessful students think it is useful. None of the successful students think it is slightly useful or useless. In contrast, 5 unsuccessful students think it is slightly useful.

d. Learning Vocabulary through Transition of MeaningsLearning vocabulary through transition of meanings is a cognitive strategy. It can contribute to learning directly. The theory about word meaning changes shows that this strategy may be useful for students to learn vocabulary. Through the transition of word meanings, students can enlarge their vocabulary and acquire more knowledge about word meanings.Figure 4 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary through Transition of Meanings

Most successful students think learning from transition of meaning helps much in vocabulary acquisition. The attitude of unsuccessful students is more complicated. From figure 4, it can be seen that 9 successful students think learning vocabulary through transition of meaning is a very useful strategy, compared to 3 of the unsuccessful students. 6 successful students think it is useful. However, most of the unsuccessful students think it is useful. There are 9 of them who made this choice. None of the successful students think this strategy is slightly useful or useless. However, there are 2 unsuccessful students who think it is slightly useful and 1 thinks it is useless.

e. Learning Vocabulary through Word FormationLearning vocabulary through word formation belongs to cognitive strategy. The internal architecture of words shows that this strategy may be very useful for vocabulary learning. However, the attitudes of successful students and unsuccessful students toward this strategy are complex.

Figure 5 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary through Word Formation

From figure 5 above, it can be seen the students attitude towards learning vocabulary through word formation is quite different from those which have discussed before. The previous analysis shows that the successful students prefer using strategies in learning vocabulary and most of them think those strategies are very useful for them to acquire vocabulary. However, figure 5 shows that towards learning vocabulary through word formation, successful students and unsuccessful students have changed their attitudes. 6 successful students find learning vocabulary through word formation is very useful, compared to 8 of the unsuccessful students. There are 8 successful students who think this strategy is useful. This number is the same as the unsuccessful students who think it is very useful. 5 of the unsuccessful students think it is useful. 1 of the successful and 1 of the unsuccessful students think it is slightly useful. None of the successful students think it is useless. However, there is 1 unsuccessful learner who thinks it is useless strategy.Through comparison it can be seen that most students think learning through word formation is a helpful strategy to acquire new vocabularies. More unsuccessful students seem to prefer this strategy than successful students.

f. Learning Vocabulary of the Same Categorization TogetherLearning vocabulary of the Same Categorization Together belongs to cognitive learning strategy. It can contribute to learning directly. The semantic theory shows that words of the same category are associated closely, so when learning vocabulary it might be easier to learn words of the same category together. However, through investigation, the result shows that the strategy of learning vocabulary of the same category together is not as popular as we assumed.

Figure 6 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary of the Same Category Together

From figure 6 we can see that only 4 of the successful students think learning vocabulary of the same category together is a very useful strategy. The unsuccessful students who think this strategy is very useful are even fewer. There are only 2 of them think it is very useful. However, most successful students and unsuccessful students think it is useful. There are 7 successful students and 10 unsuccessful students who think this strategy helps them learn vocabulary. 2 successful students and 2 unsuccessful students think it is slightly useful. There are 2 successful students and 1 unsuccessful learner who thinks it is not useful at all.

g. Learning Vocabulary through ListeningLearning vocabulary through listening belongs to cognitive learning strategy. It can contribute vocabulary learning directly. It should be helpful for students according to the sound pattern theory and listening to story can help students to acquire unknown words. Learning vocabulary through listening may be useful, students attitudes toward it are complex.

Figure 7 Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary through Listening

Through figure 7, it can be seen that there are 7 successful students who think learning vocabulary through listening is very useful. 4 of the unsuccessful students have the same opinion. 5 successful students and 6 unsuccessful students think it is useful. 2 of the successful students think it is slightly useful, compared to 3 of the unsuccessful students. 1 successful learner and 2 unsuccessful students think learning through listening is completely useless. Through the figure above, it was known that learning through listening seems not so popular among either successful students or unsuccessful students.

h. Learning Vocabulary Using Word CardsThe last question of the questionnaire is listing other strategies which have not been mentioned in questionnaire prepared above. In this section, most of the unsuccessful students mention word cards. In contrast, only 3 successful students mention this strategy. Learning form word cards belongs to cognitive learning strategy. It can contribute to learning directly.

Table 1 Other Strategies Used in Learning Vocabulary

Other Strategies Number of Successful StudentsNumber of Unsuccessful Students

Word cards310

Watch TV or movie10

Writing while memorizing01

No other strategy114

From table 1 above, it can be seen that learning from word cards is a very popular strategy among unsuccessful students. 3 successful students mention learning from word cards is the other strategy they usually use in learning vocabulary. However, there are 10 of the unsuccessful students who usually use word cards to learn vocabulary. 1 of the successful students mentions that watching TV or movie could help to learn vocabulary. It is a similar strategy to listening and also belongs to incidental learning. Since those strategies have been analyzed above, the researcher will not do further analysis here. 1 of the unsuccessful students mentions writing down the word while memorizing. Since not so many students mention this strategy, so it will not be analyzed here.

i. Discussion of ResultThrough the analysis of different attitudes of successful students and unsuccessful students toward vocabulary learning strategies, the researcher can draw the discussion of result as follow:On one hand, successful students and unsuccessful students prefer different types of strategies. From the data analysis above, it can be seen that most successful students prefer incidental learning, such as learning vocabulary from context, learning vocabulary in daily life, and learning vocabulary through communication. In each of the three strategies, there are more than 10 successful students who think it is very useful. In contrast, unsuccessful students seem to like a decontextualised strategy, such as word formation, by using word cards. Unsuccessful students seem to like to focus on the word itself when learning vocabulary.On the other hand, successful students and unsuccessful students have different attitudes toward vocabulary learning strategies. Through the analysis data above, it can be seen that most successful students think vocabulary learning strategies are very useful and help them in their vocabulary acquisition. They can use these strategies intentionally when learning English vocabulary. Moreover, they also can identify whether it is proper to use a certain strategy. In contrast, unsuccessful students attitudes toward vocabulary learning strategies are not so positive. Most of the unsuccessful students do not think vocabulary learning strategies are very useful.

Figure 8 (1) Students who think a strategy is very useful

Figure 8 (2) Students who think a strategy is very useful

E. Conclusion All in all, the results of the research show that successful students are more in favor of using learning strategies to learn vocabulary, and they think most of the strategies are useful. However, unsuccessful students have different attitudes, they seem not to favor using learning strategies in their study and only a few of them think these strategies are very useful. Thus, when teaching vocabulary lecturers could teach some strategies and guide students to use these strategies in their learning process. Students also should try to learn how to use these strategies properly. Furthermore, studies can be conducted concerning how to adapt these strategies in classroom teaching and learning and how to train students to use vocabulary learning strategies efficiently.

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