Understanding the attitude of ESL learners to vocabulary learning

Abstract

The study investigates the attitudes of learners towards the importance of vocabulary and their choice of sources to learn new words. It chiefly explores the differences in attitudes and choices of learners by a survey which was conducted among 730 first-year engineering students of Anna University, India. The questionnaire had two different divisions, i.e., importance given to vocabulary learning and sources of new words. The sources of new words further had four sub-divisions based on language skills. The data were collected from students and statistically analysed to answer the research questions of the study. In general, the results show that students consider vocabulary as an important aspect of language learning. Students admit the importance of vocabulary to understand a text. Interestingly, gender influences the choice of sources to learn new words. Further, the medium of education also significantly influences learners’ attitudes and their choices of sources in vocabulary learning.

Keywords: English in India, English language teaching, English vocabulary, learners’ attitude, learner differences, sources to learn vocabulary, vocabulary learning.