Word part strategy in L2 academic English

Exploring Finnish university students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and morphological awareness

Abstract

The word part strategy can hypothetically be effective in acquiring academic vocabulary, which is chiefly constructed using morphologically complex structures. However, not much is known about this association as little information exists on the word part strategy in the academic context among L2 English learners. Consequently, this study focused on the use of vocabulary learning strategies and its relationship with receptive morphological knowledge in learning L2 academic English vocabulary. 694 Finnish university students’ intentional strategy use and performance in tasks measuring receptive morphological knowledge were examined with quantitative methods. The findings showed that intentional strategy use was associated with the students’ receptive morphological knowledge. The findings also suggested that students who used strategies requiring analytical skills had higher levels of morphological awareness and skills needed in the word part strategy. Before Finnish students can use the word part strategy independently, the results suggested that the required amount of explicit pedagogical focus on the strategy depends on how they are currently engaging with words. These findings can be exploited for developing L2 English teaching at the university level and providing useful information to further research on advanced English learners’ vocabulary learning and strategy use.