Trajectory of Learning Academic Vocabulary: IT Undergraduates’ Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Performance at the Exam

Abstract

Learning vocabulary is an integral part in language acquisition and acquisition of academic vocabulary is crucial for the success in an academic context. Therefore, many studies have been conducted to formulate academic vocabulary lists and identify vocabulary learning strategies. This study seeks to explore the vocabulary learning strategies employed by IT undergraduates when studying academic vocabulary and to examine their performance on the academic vocabulary related questions at the formative exam. The sample of the study includes 276 first year IT undergraduates who follow the module English for Academic Purposes. A questionnaire is used as the research tool to obtain data from the sample and the result of the formative exam is used to examine the performance related to academic vocabulary. According to the data analysis, most of the students often use either monolingual or bilingual dictionary as a strategy to discover the meaning of a new word. This is more emphasized as they have mentioned that they prefer using dictionary apps as a strategy to learn vocabulary online. A significant number of students study the spelling, meaning and form of a word and ask for help from their friends as strategies for consolidating a new word they encounter. However, when comparing the marks obtained for the vocabulary related questions at the exam, it is noted that the students have obtained less marks to the question in which they had to replace the underlined word/phrases with a more academic alternative. Thus, students need to adapt more effective strategies to acquire mastery of academic vocabulary.