Innovation in Language Learning

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in the reported use of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) between university students majoring in teaching Early Childhood Education (ECE) and students majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). The participants were 84 sophomore and junior students at one public university in Beirut, Lebanon, taking English as compulsory courses. A modified version of Gu and Johnson’s (1996) VLS questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The VLS questionnaire was piloted earlier to ensure the validity of the items. The difference in the reported use of VLS of the participants was analyzed by using SPSS. In addition, qualitative data were collected from interviews conducted with random samples of the participants. The results indicated that there were significant differences in the use of memory strategies between ECE and TEFL students. In general, TEFL students reported a higher use of metacognitive regulation strategies, guessing strategies, dictionary strategies, and memory strategies than ECE students. The TEFL students group had a significantly higher reported use of memory strategies than ECE students.

Keywords: VLS, ECE, TEFL.

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