Abstract

Vocabulary learning has gained much interest in second language acquisition research. Communication hinges on instinctive and precise word recognition skills, so a learner needs to be equipped with adequate vocabulary knowledge for fluency. Yet, this process of gaining fluency becomes suffocating for EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners when they come across unknown words and this often results in giving up reading or making zero effort to understand the meaning of a text. This shows that learners lack the ability to gain knowledge of handling unknown words. For this purpose, various kinds of vocabulary tests have been constructed through time. This study aims to get together the notion of errors in vocabulary assimilation and use, the development of vocabulary assessment and the incorporation of some remedial measures that can help Pakistani BS learners improve their English lexical assimilation.

Key Words

Lexical Errors, Lexical Assimilations, Remedial Measures, English Language Teaching

Introduction

Error Analysis

Language learners strive hard to work on their language performance in order to bring it in harmony with that of native speakers. In this process of learning, instability is expected. Common errors in the communicative activity of language are readily noticed but that does not mean errors of comprehension go unnoticed.  We teach groups but it is individuals who learn. Errors made by groups of individuals are taken up for practical purposes since remedial procedures and syllabuses are designed for groups and not individuals, and the nature of the errors made by the groups is part of the data on which these are devised. However, that is only possible if the group is homogeneous i.e., the members have the same mother tongue and are educationally socially and intellectually matched. However, there are certain features of the target language which are inherently difficult for all learners irrespective of their mother tongue, intelligence, social and cultural background. In order to understand the process of language learning it is important to investigate the nature of errors. There are three interdependent stages in error analysis viz, recognition, description and explanation and this whole process are largely confined to the study of expressive errors. They may be spoken or written. We can speak about the learner's utterances as being OVERTLY erroneous or being COVERTLY erroneous. The difficulty in the identification of error is thus firmly put where it belongs. The problem is: how do we arrive at the knowledge of what the learner intended to say?  

Learning language is a process in which, like learning to swim, language learners learn through trial and error and the feedback they receive helps them to successfully reach the desired goals. Such errors provide evidence of the process of language learning to researchers as well. However, the fact needs to be taken into consideration that the nature of feedback can also hamper the learning process of learners and he/she can even give up the whole process of making attempts to learn something.  




Why Study Errors?

According to Corder (1967), error analysis can be useful for teachers, students and the researcher. Such analyses can be insightful for learning about the nature of a language, the instinctive nature of the learner's system and the route of language teaching and learning. Such analyses play a pivotal role in understanding how a foreign language can be effectively taught and learned and how prevailing methods pertaining to both can be enriched. 




Second Language Learning

There are no nativists when it comes to second language learning. The idea that one could learn a second language from the sort of exposure that would be sufficient to test out hypotheses about the form of rules appropriate to a particular language would wither at the very first contact with reality. Everybody who has gone through the process of trying to learn a second language knows only too well the amount of effort that is involved in doing so. 




Background of the Study

Language proficiency especially English language proficiency has become an area of interest for researchers in recent years but vocabulary is one such area which still needs more attention. The size of vocabulary and a good word bank can play an important role in acquiring a second language but lack of the same can also become problematic. According to Schmitt and Meara’s (1984) study on L2 university students, lexical errors outnumbered grammatical errors by 3:1 or 4:1. Leki and Carson (1994) also did research on L2 students and concluded that vocabulary hinders their academic performance pertaining to written academic tasks. Lexical assimilation has gained the interest of researchers recently but not as much as syntax or phonology (Clece-Murica, 1997). Learning strategies are also affected by a host of other factors like age, gender, ethnicity, task requirements and teacher expectations (Oxford, 1990).  

Production of language errors reflects a great deal on what cognitive processes take place in the mind of the learner. Bartholomae (1980) said that learning a language is a continuous process of exposure wherein learners make errors, hypothesize, test and reinforce the ideas thereby making error analysis the right path for researchers to investigate language errors. 




Definitions

Error:

A deviation, especially the one that causes problems or affects the result of something

Lexical:

Connected with the words of a language.

Assimilation:

To use an idea yourself by understanding it completely 

Remedial:

To solve a problem via corrections 

Theoretical Framework

This study is an investigation into the errors made by ESL learners in vocabulary comprehension. Error analysis is a theory which sets the bedrock to gauge errors of language learners and leads to an explanation of what causes them (Corder, 1975). This study also hinges on the English lexical assimilation of ESL learners. In this study, the students were given some words from the English language and were asked to write a story with the help of those words. For error analysis, a pre-test (without remedial measures) and a post-test (with remedial measures) were given to the learners. The target vocabulary remained the same. It was followed by the comparison of vocabulary scores of representative groups. It was done with a view to test the hypothesis. This was followed by a questionnaire circulated among 100 students on their learning efforts, and attitudes strategies used by teachers.

The tests and questionnaire survey were conducted in January 2021. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this research, but it was predominantly quantitative in nature. 




Statement of the Problem

Appraisal of Errors of Pakistani BS Students in English Lexical Assimilation and Some Remedial Measures. This study investigates how remedial measures in English Language teaching can help Pakistani BS learners overcome their errors in lexical assimilation. It is an exploration of the nature of problems and factors affecting the learning of English vocabulary by BS learners. Moreover, it throws light on the remedial strategies that can be adopted by the teachers to help ESL learners overcome errors in English lexical assimilation and use.




Hypothesis

Remedial measures in English Language teaching can help Pakistani BS learners overcome their errors in lexical assimilation and use. 




Objectives

The following are the objectives of this study:

? To investigate the type of vocabulary errors ESL learners make.

? To find out the factors hampering their L2 vocabulary comprehension and use.

? To provide some remedial strategies to teachers in helping ESL learners overcome their errors in lexical assimilation.




Research Questions

The research aims at answering the following questions:

? What are the types of vocabulary errors ESL learners make?

? What factors hinder L2 vocabulary comprehension and the use of ESL learners?

? Which remedial strategies teachers can use to help BS learners overcome problems in lexical assimilation and use?




Significance of the Study

From the British Isles, today, English has diffused to other continents of the world, the reasons being conquest, colonization, and trade. In terms of elite culture and domains of power it is not possible to ignore the English language or the non-natives will get locked out of profitable jobs around the world. It's extensively used in media be it print or electronic. To date, it is the official language of various private and government organizations in Pakistan and a prerequisite for good private and government jobs. Knowledge of the English Language is thus imperative for Pakistani students and if they fail to increase their word bank they put themselves at risk of being identified as learning incapacitated.

Though the growth of word knowledge is being given importance at the BS level, still students face difficulties. This research is to complement and augment studies conducted in this area, the goal being to present operational vocabulary-building stratagems in the field of EAP. Language comprehension and production are important in this domain since the increase in the knowledge of vocabulary is an important prerequisite for language acquisition and that can be made possible if teachers employ effective strategies for vocabulary teaching.

Literature Review

The syntax is dependent on lexis and that is where one needs to start when it comes to language learning (Widdowson in Lewis, 1993).




Vocabulary and its Importance for ESL Students

Language is a word-building game. Lexical knowledge adds to the knowledge of the target language. None can deny the importance of English for ESL learners with English as an established global language now. Even language learners agree to this thing that vocabulary building at every stage of learning is a hard task and regarding the magnitude of vocabulary and vocabulary building, language practitioners hold the same view (Meara, 1980). According to Cottrel (1991), to enhance the learning process some basic approaches can be employed. She believed that CREAM strategies show a reflective, active, and self-evaluating approach to learning which develops a deeper understanding in the long term. The results of Macaro’s survey (2003) indicate that for secondary language teachers, vocabulary is an area they most need to work on to improve teaching and learning in their classrooms. Therefore, it may be stated that in L2 learning, vocabulary has a major role to play and its implications for teaching from substantial research are in great demand.




Knowing Vocabulary Items

Words do not exist in isolation in a text. Words form an intricate web in a text and that web has a network of lexical levels.  For understanding a text, a knowledge of these lexical levels is required to have a good command of reading, listening, speaking and writing. A lexical item encompasses word association, word frequency, collocation, underlying forms, case relations, register and semantic structure etc. (Richards 1976). Two terms, receptive: reading and listening and Productive: writing and speaking play an important role in vocabulary knowledge description covering all the aspects of what is involved in knowing a word (Nation, 2001). These are actually skills which divide English language learning into two parts (Sadiku, 2015). The four language levels are not learnt separately, they form an intricate web and overlap, and thus, it is better to learn these levels simultaneously (Ratnanisingh & Azizah, 2019). One cannot do without focusing on form, meaning and use of words and these characteristics show that learning words require great effort (Nation, 2001). This makes the job of learners all the more demanding since they come from multiple backgrounds with a pre-existing knowledge of patterns of the units.




Traditional Methods of L2 Vocabulary Teaching

In a traditional classroom setup, vocabulary is usually given less importance and students are usually left on their own to learn vocabulary without much instruction or guidance. There are several traditional teaching practices related to vocabulary that deserve to be left in the "instructional dustbin." Rote learning or limited practices are marked as a key weaknesses in learning a new word/concept. They include looking up words in a dictionary, copying definitions, word usage in sentences and making use of contextual knowledge. However, these practices have become clichéd and need a broader perspective. Another practice is making students memorize definitions. Rote learning of word meanings is likely to result, at best, in the ability to parrot back what is not clearly understood. Language teachers also need to be cognizant of the processes that can be of advantage for vocabulary growth (Davidovitch et al, 2016). Though these traditional strategies have been there for a while they do not show much student immersion and a student feels disconnected when it comes to striking a link between pre-existing knowledge and new concept. This implies that learning vocabulary should not be a passive and boring process of re-presenting information from a mere text or a lecture but it should be a creative process where the learner enjoys and shows active participation (Stahl, 1999) 

 

Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS)

Key Previous Studies 

Previous VLS studies hinged on a limited set of strategies like drawing ideas from the context and mnemonics like Keyword Method etc. (Huckin et al. 1993). The keyword Method was considered an instrumental strategy for vocabulary learning. (Pressley et al. 1982). However, for a comprehensive taxonomy of VLS, Extensive and in-depth studies are still needed. (Schmitt 1997).

There are several strategies like ‘take notes in class’, verbal repetition ‘written repetition’, ‘say a new word aloud’ and ‘study a word's spelling' to help a student build his/her vocabulary. Cooperation and communication among learners can also be of great help to assist in arousing the memory of learners of newly learned lexical items and student-teacher interaction can also be of great help in the same vein (Shi, 2017). Some other strategies were deemed helpful, but they were not used frequently by learners e.g., the use of pictures/gestures to understand meaning, study synonyms and antonyms, continue to study over time and ask the teacher for paraphrase. This implies that less frequently used strategies do hold some value only if they are introduced and instructed properly (Schmitt 1997).

Methodology

The syntax is dependent on lexis and that is where one needs to start when it comes to language learning (Widdowson in Lewis, 1993).




Vocabulary and its Importance for ESL Students

Language is a word-building game. Lexical knowledge adds to the knowledge of the target language. None can deny the importance of English for ESL learners with English as an established global language now. Even language learners agree to this thing that vocabulary building at every stage of learning is a hard task and regarding the magnitude of vocabulary and vocabulary building, language practitioners hold the same view (Meara, 1980). According to Cottrel (1991), to enhance the learning process some basic approaches can be employed. She believed that CREAM strategies show a reflective, active, and self-evaluating approach to learning which develops a deeper understanding in the long term. The results of Macaro’s survey (2003) indicate that for secondary language teachers, vocabulary is an area they most need to work on to improve teaching and learning in their classrooms. Therefore, it may be stated that in L2 learning, vocabulary has a major role to play and its implications for teaching from substantial research are in great demand.




Knowing Vocabulary Items

Words do not exist in isolation in a text. Words form an intricate web in a text and that web has a network of lexical levels.  For understanding a text, a knowledge of these lexical levels is required to have a good command of reading, listening, speaking and writing. A lexical item encompasses word association, word frequency, collocation, underlying forms, case relations, register and semantic structure etc. (Richards 1976). Two terms, receptive: reading and listening and Productive: writing and speaking play an important role in vocabulary knowledge description covering all the aspects of what is involved in knowing a word (Nation, 2001). These are actually skills which divide English language learning into two parts (Sadiku, 2015). The four language levels are not learnt separately, they form an intricate web and overlap, and thus, it is better to learn these levels simultaneously (Ratnanisingh & Azizah, 2019). One cannot do without focusing on form, meaning and use of words and these characteristics show that learning words require great effort (Nation, 2001). This makes the job of learners all the more demanding since they come from multiple backgrounds with a pre-existing knowledge of patterns of the units.




Traditional Methods of L2 Vocabulary Teaching

In a traditional classroom setup, vocabulary is usually given less importance and students are usually left on their own to learn vocabulary without much instruction or guidance. There are several traditional teaching practices related to vocabulary that deserve to be left in the "instructional dustbin." Rote learning or limited practices are marked as a key weaknesses in learning a new word/concept. They include looking up words in a dictionary, copying definitions, word usage in sentences and making use of contextual knowledge. However, these practices have become clichéd and need a broader perspective. Another practice is making students memorize definitions. Rote learning of word meanings is likely to result, at best, in the ability to parrot back what is not clearly understood. Language teachers also need to be cognizant of the processes that can be of advantage for vocabulary growth (Davidovitch et al, 2016). Though these traditional strategies have been there for a while they do not show much student immersion and a student feels disconnected when it comes to striking a link between pre-existing knowledge and new concept. This implies that learning vocabulary should not be a passive and boring process of re-presenting information from a mere text or a lecture but it should be a creative process where the learner enjoys and shows active participation (Stahl, 1999) 

 

Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS)

Key Previous Studies 

Previous VLS studies hinged on a limited set of strategies like drawing ideas from the context and mnemonics like Keyword Method etc. (Huckin et al. 1993). The keyword Method was considered an instrumental strategy for vocabulary learning. (Pressley et al. 1982). However, for a comprehensive taxonomy of VLS, Extensive and in-depth studies are still needed. (Schmitt 1997).

There are several strategies like ‘take notes in class’, verbal repetition ‘written repetition’, ‘say a new word aloud’ and ‘study a word's spelling' to help a student build his/her vocabulary. Cooperation and communication among learners can also be of great help to assist in arousing the memory of learners of newly learned lexical items and student-teacher interaction can also be of great help in the same vein (Shi, 2017). Some other strategies were deemed helpful, but they were not used frequently by learners e.g., the use of pictures/gestures to understand meaning, study synonyms and antonyms, continue to study over time and ask the teacher for paraphrase. This implies that less frequently used strategies do hold some value only if they are introduced and instructed properly (Schmitt 1997).

Reliability and Validity

To ensure validity and reliability, the pilot study was conducted on a smaller scale at the University of Management and Technology Sialkot campus and the Cronbach's Alpha statistical test was applied to resolve the issue of reliability and validity.




 

Table 1

Cronbach’s Alpha	Cronbach’s  Alpha Based on Standardized Items	N of Items
+.741	.782	30

 




Procedure

The test was administered to 50 BS students of the representative group at a Pakistani university who were taking the general English course as a requirement. These 50 students of the BS program were randomly selected to serve as the subjects. They were divided into Group A and Group B. The tests were conducted on a Monday in January. In addition, a questionnaire was also administered to the students to investigate their attitudes towards English and the strategies adopted by the teachers.

 

Analysis

One of the groups was given remedial drills with VLS. The results of the groups in the two tests were compared. We also analyzed the questionnaire data to find what language styles the students have and what strategies the teachers adopt. 

Findings and Analysis

Introduction

The tests were administered to two groups namely group A (Traditional VLS) and group B (Remedial VLS). The results of the pre-test and post-test are compared. The questionnaire focused on general trends and loopholes in the practices. The responses received via questionnaire are investigated. 

 

Results of Vocabulary Tests

The results of the pre-test and post-test are first presented in this section to answer the three research questions.

The participants' individual scores are collected and explored to see the influence of corrective methods in vocabulary teaching. Group A was taught lexical assimilation with traditional methods: dictionary meaning, repetition, and sentence making while group B was taught the same with some remedial Methods. Remedial measures included analogies, semantic mapping, contextualization, use of mnemonics, eliciting, discussion and actions.




 

Table 2

Students	Pre-test	Post-test	Improvement
1	4	6	2
2	0	5	5
3	1	5	4
4	1	3	2
5	0	3	3
6	4	6	2
7	3	7	4
8	0	2	2
9	0	3	3
10	4	5	1
11	0	3	3
12	1	5	4
13	3	5	2
14	0	3	3
15	2	4	2
16	4	8	4
17	3	6	3
18	3	6	3
19	2	5	3
20	4	8	4
21	5	7	2
22	0	5	5
23	0	4	4
24	1	5	4
25	4	8	4
Average  4

 

Table 3

Students	Pre-test	Post-test	Improvement
1	3	9	6
2	4	9	5
3	6	10	4
4	4	10	6
5	3	9	6
6	0	8	8
7	3	9	6
8	3	9	6
9	2	8	6
10	2	9	7
11	1	7	6
12	2	9	7
13	0	8	8
14	2	10	8
15	0	9	9
16	2	8	6
17	0	8	8
18	2	9	7
19	1	7	6
20	0	7	7
21	1	7	6
22	0	7	7
23	0	7	7
24	0	8	8
25	1	7	6
Average     6

 




Research Questions One, Two and Three

We can see the results of the tests, and the results of pretests in both tables answer our research questions regarding types of errors and the factors involved. Some of the students didn't even attempt the pretest. They had zero comprehension of the vocabulary. Since they couldn't assimilate the meaning of the words, they didn't even try to use them. In our education system students at the BS level are taught many other courses, so polishing and refining their lexical assimilations of the English language becomes a taxing job for the teacher given the limited time and resources. Poor educational background, lack of adequate exposure to L2, and clichéd teaching strategies are some of the factors that are involved in poor English comprehension of BS students. Students make comprehension errors. From the data analyzed it was concluded that the errors are grounded in poor comprehension. Because of poor comprehension the students either do not attempt making use of a new word or end up making wrong use of it.  The post-tests of both groups show considerable differences in lexical assimilation. Group A was given a traditional vocabulary drill after the pretest whereas group B was given remedial vocabulary drills. The improvement average justifies our hypothesis that given the remedial VLS, students can improve their errors in lexical assimilation. This also supports our third research question. Therefore, we can conclude that:

Remedial measures in English lexical assimilation can improve BS students' vocabulary.

 

Questionnaire

Table 1.3 shows the questions and results of the questionnaire.




 

Table 4

S. No	Questions	Agree	Strongly Agree	Not Sure	Strongly Disagree	Disagree
1.	I enjoy learning English.	46	54	0	0	0
2.	I want to improve my English.	16	83	0	0	1
3.	I think learning English is difficult.	18	8	18	8	48
4.	I easily learn words by consulting a dictionary.	58	30	6	0	6
5.	I use mnemonics to remember a word.	37	25	26	2	10
6.	I use pictures to learn a word.	26	10	23	7	34
7.	Chatting online with friends helps in improving my vocabulary.	35	35	12	6	12
8.	I learn a word by writing it repeatedly.	44	26	9	3	18
9.	I learn words in context.	56	18	18	1	7
10.	I learn words by doing a number of vocabulary exercises.	38	11	22	4	23
11.	I learn words quickly when a teacher provides additional information.	26	14	4	24	32
12.	Vocabulary drills are a regular feature of my classroom.	20	15	7	20	38
13.	The teacher always makes me use a word in real-life situations.	32	9	3	16	40
14.	I analyze a word when the teacher breaks it into sound segments.	20	23	19	17	21
15.	The teacher encourages me to do reading for improving my vocabulary.	46	48	4	1	1
16.	New words are taught with the help of analogies.	14	16	1	16	53
17.	New and interesting examples are given by the teacher to teach new words.	22	17	0	22	39
18.	The teacher always goes beyond the meaning given in the lesson.	27	22	10	12	29
19.	The new meaning of a word is taught from the L1 meaning in the classroom.	56	27	9	0	8
20.	The teacher teaches the meaning of a new word from an incident or story.	18	15	17	15	35

 




 

 

Self-reported VLS and Vocabulary Teaching Practices

This part starts with a focus on the attitude, opinions and approaches of English language learners regarding English language vocabulary.

Through this survey, the approaches used by the teachers were also brought to light. The questions with the results (Highest number) are discussed below:

 

Questions 1, 2 and 3

The results of the first 3 questions Q1 (54 strongly agree), Q2 (83 strongly agree), and Q3 (48 Disagree) show a general trend of ESL students towards the English language. Students enjoy learning this language, they want to improve it and they do not find it difficult.

 

Questions 4, 5, 6 and 7

The results of Q4 (58 Agree), Q5 (37 agree), Q6 (26 agree, 34 disagree), and Q7 (35 agree) indicate the self-efforts of the students. Dictionary, mnemonics, pictures and online chatting are some of the methods used by the students to improve their vocabulary. These results are clear proof that the students want to improve their errors in lexical assimilation. They avail the opportunities available to them. Thus, if given more strategies by the teachers they can give better results. 

 

Questions 8, 9 and 10

The results of the last three questions in the first part Q8 (44 Agree), Q9 (56 Agree), Q 10(38 Agree) show that students use some traditional methods to improve their vocabulary. They do vocabulary exercises and use contextual knowledge to improve their lexical assimilation and use.

 

Questions 11 and 12

The second part of the questionnaire focuses on the efforts made by the teachers in helping students improve their vocabulary. Q11 (32 Disagree) Q12 (38 Disagree). Vocabulary drills and additional information are very much needed for ESL students but owing to the limited time and a large number of course contents, teachers find it difficult to meet the challenges.

 

Questions 13 and 14

The results of these questions Q 13(40 Disagree) and Q14 (23 strongly agree) show that if teachers will teach new words by using them in real-life situations students will benefit a great deal. Unfortunately, students are not given such opportunities and the teachers need to relate new words with real-life situations. Moreover, if the teacher will break words into sound segments it will also help in the student's vocabulary comprehension.

 

Questions 15 and 16

The results of these questions Q15(48 Strongly agree), and Q16 (53 Disagree) indicate that teachers do encourage the students to do reading for better vocabulary comprehension but that is something which does not happen in the class. Also, students disagree with the point that teachers make use of analogies such as VLS.

 

Questions 17 and 18

The results Q 17(39 Disagree), 18 (29 Disagree) show that students are not satisfied with the way teachers teach new words since they do not give examples from real life nor do they go beyond the lesson meaning. The clichéd methods do not help in getting rid of the errors in lexical assimilation.

 

Questions 19 and 20

53 students agreed that L1 meaning is used to teach a word in L2 and 35 disagreed that teachers use an incident or story to teach a new word.

In this section, the data collected from the pre-test, post-test and questionnaire is presented.

Of all the strategies given in the questionnaire the students agreed with only two of the most common ones-reading and usage of L1 meaning to teach L2 meaning. The rest did not receive positive feedback from the students. Not even the contextual use.  In light of these results, we can conclude that in Pakistan students do come across problems in English lexical assimilation and use. It is confirmed that remedial measures need to be taken to overcome this language problem.

Discussion

Introduction

From the findings of tests and questionnaires a conclusion can be drawn that Pakistani students at BS level do make errors in English lexicon assimilation and use but if given some remedial drills, the errors can be minimized. It can be concluded that presently students have inadequate vocabulary knowledge of the English language. The situation is quite alarming since the students before entering university had already been formally exposed to the English language in schools for at least 13 years.




Types of Errors and Factors Involved

Thus, there are different possible errors that can be associated with vocabulary in academic writing. They can be narrowed down to six categories: 

? Meaning 

? Appropriacy

? Derivation 

? Form 

? Omission 

? Style

Out of the six categories, five namely: meaning, appropriacy, derivation, form, and style have the greatest impact on the quality of student writing: There are some other vocabulary errors as well namely:

a) L1 interference errors

b) Synonym confusion

c) Vocabulary compensation

d) Synforms (Lexical mishits)

 

Remedial Measures

Though vocabulary is being taught in our institutions, there is nothing new and creative in the teaching methodologies. This situation demands strategies like Cottrell'. She gave a CREAM strategy for learning vocabulary –

 C- Creative: creative learners apply their imagination to learn vocabulary by making use of their individual styles and strategies. 

R-Reflective: The learner relies on his/her experience of learning lexical units. The processes of exploration regarding a lexical unit along with arriving at a conclusion are also prepared by the learner.

E- Effective: Such learners rely on their organizational skills by sorting their space, resources, mind and time.

A-Active: This type of learner engages himself in mental and physical activities for his own understanding.

M- Motivated: Such learners have a strong commitment towards their long and short-term goals to achieve their anticipated targets.

Schmitt (1997) also gave a taxonomy of several strategies:




Determination Strategies

Learners rely on themselves to understand the meanings of words without any help. For example to guess the meaning of a word.




Social Strategies

Learners interact and seek help from peers through observation and questions.




Memory Strategies

To teach new words, learners are engaged in mental tasks which relate to their existing and background knowledge. For example, if a learner comes across the word 'dog', the learner will try to group it under a category from his pre-existing background knowledge like an animal with four legs etc. 




Cognitive Strategies

When the learner focuses on the process of learning a word like repeating the meanings or pronunciations mechanically. 




Metacognitive Strategies

Here learner monitors makes decisions and evaluates his/her own progress. This way appropriate VLS can also be determined to learn new words. 

There is no denying the fact that vocabulary plays a vital role in an ESL learner's English language learning journey and the prevalent vocabulary lag needs effective strategies.  Instead of focusing on isolated instructional approaches, it would be better to devise a complete program hinging on key elements like:

1. Direct word teaching

2. Exhaustive language and word experiences 

3. Instructions related to word-learning strategies

4. Word consciousness cultivation (Graves, 2007; Stahl & Nagy, 2006).

These components play a pivotal role in the vocabulary building of learners. Direct word teaching involves teaching vocabulary in a context, teaching tier 2 words, making use of sentences to construct stories, using basic words, giving rich word instruction and providing numerous exposures. The second component focuses on providing learners with an environment wherein they can get rich word experiences. This can be done by exposing them to places like libraries and exposing them to reading materials of varied topics and genres according to their levels. The third component involves wordplay, contextual prompts and morphological analysis. The last component is about developing cognizance regarding the pivotal role of words as building blocks of language, and how these basic units work together to complete the intricate process of communication at higher levels.

Conclusion

Recommendation

This study is a small effort on the researcher's part to raise awareness regarding the need to conduct more experimental and quasi-experimental research on building vocabulary knowledge regarding student learning and teaching approaches. The knowledge base in the field can also be extended by exploring multiple social, cultural, linguistic and economic factors that impact the use of vocabulary among ESL learners. Studies focusing on new 

This study is a small effort on the researcher's part to raise awareness regarding the need to conduct more experimental and quasi-experimental research on building vocabulary knowledge regarding student learning and teaching approaches. The knowledge base in the field can also be extended by exploring multiple social, cultural, linguistic and economic factors that impact the use of vocabulary among ESL learners. Studies focusing on new efficacious techniques of vocabulary building along with the integration of numerous constituents of vocabulary learning can also rope in good results.

Limitations

This study has some prospective limitations. First and foremost, the questionnaire used is self-report and, in this study, it is the single source of information, so it does leave some grey areas regarding participants' actual use and their beliefs and thoughts about the strategies reported. Researchers can resort to observations, think-aloud strategies (introspection) and interviews to cater to such issues. In this small-scale study application of such strategies was not feasible, but they would have certainly provided more insights into what learners actually do. Also, the sample size was small, and a small number of stories/paragraphs were analyzed. It is possible that with a much larger number of participants and essays, results might have been different and varied.

To conclude, the findings of the data showed that the strategies most often used by EFL learners are memorization (in terms of mental images), dictionary approaches and linguistic cues. The clichéd learning techniques have not helped in improving the situation and the errors persist. This implies that at the BS level instructors need to introduce more strategies to help students build their vocabulary. It was seen that students despite being aware of some strategies, failed to put the same into practice. Thus, competence regarding vocabulary-building strategies is not enough till you make use of it via some performance. In the field of academics, an English language student cannot do without a good vocabulary and it should be a major goal (Ediger, 1999). Moreover, the instructors also need to revisit their instructional strategies to build students' vocabulary. It is the need of the hour to develop awareness in classrooms regarding a culture that upholds word cognizance so that learners show eagerness to learn and use new vocabulary. 

Appendix

Reference Book Used for Vocabulary Tests.

Short Stories: Book 1 ( Punjab Text Book Board) 

Story: God be Praised.

Word List: 

Pomp

Bulge

Ablution

Quilt

Thud 

Morsel

Reprimand

Blurt

Gaze

Solitude 

References

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