Strategies used by ESL learners to derive meaning of vocabulary in a short story

Abstract

This study aims at identifying the strategies used by learners to derive meaning of vocabulary in one of the KBSM literature component, which is short story. The effectiveness of the strategies identified is also being looked at. Besides that, it is also to find out if the ESL learners use the five common strategies to derive meaning of words. A total of 70 Form Two students in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Munshi Abdullah, Kulai, Johor participated in this study. The research instruments used for this study were questionnaires and a rated vocabulary exercise on a short story. The questionnaires were distributed to each respondent with the purpose of finding out the strategies used to derive meaning of words, in general readings as well as in a short story. In addition, the rated vocabulary exercise was given to them to see whether the strategies used in deriving meaning of vocabulary in a short story have been effective or otherwise. This was done by comparing the exercise scores and the strategies used. Result from the findings indicate the following: 1) The learners do use the five common strategies mentioned by most researchers in the field, 2) In deriving the meaning of vocabulary in a short story, most of the high, average and low achievers referred to the dictionary, 3) The effectiveness of the strategies used depended on the learners’ language proficiency and their ability to fit in the meanings of the unknown words with the context in which these words occurred. Finally, the pedagogical implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are put forward