The IAFOR Journal of Education

Volume 4 – Issue 1 – Spring 2016

Online Independent Vocabulary Learning Experience ofHong Kong University Students

Eunice Tang, Edsoulla Chung, Eddy Li, and Steven Yeung

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Abstract

In response to the limited vocabulary size of its undergraduates, an independent vocabulary
learning platform, VLearn was designed and launched in a university in Hong Kong. As an elearning environment that supports self-directed vocabulary learning of Chinese learners, theprimary aim of VLearn is to equip users with appropriate knowledge and skills for vocabulary
expansion. This paper introduces the contents of VLearn, and the theoretical underpinnings of
its design. It also reports on the vocabulary learning experience of its users during an eightweek evaluation study. Suggestions are made on how independent vocabulary building at
higher education, as well as comprehensive vocabulary instruction at early years could be
supported by means of technology.
Keywords: vocabulary teaching and learning; e-learning strategies; Chinese learners; selfdirected learning; English language education

	
  

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Introduction
A second language learner must possess an 8,000 to 9,000 word-family vocabulary in order tocomprehend most written discourse in English and a vocabulary of 15,000 in order to read withminimal disturbance (Nation, 2001; 2006). However, a number of studies have shown that the
vocabulary size of Hong Kong university students does not measure up to such a standard.
Cobb and Horst (2000), for example, found that undergraduates in Hong Kong performed wellat only between 3,000 and 5,000 frequency word levels. In a more recent study, Chui (2005)
investigated the first-year entrants of a local university and concluded that the majority ofstudents possess no more than a 3,000 word vocabulary. In other words, most Hong Kong
undergraduates do not seem to have acquired the ‘threshold’ level of vocabulary to interact
with English academic texts effectively at university where English is adopted as a medium of
instruction.
Literature Review
Hong Kong students begin their compulsory English learning in the second/foreign language
classroom in primary one. In the English Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum
Guide (P1-S3) (CDC, 2002), broad learning outcomes of the four language skills are stipulated
clearly for each key stage. The role and function of vocabulary, however, is not specificallymentioned. As Zimmerman (1997) puts it, the teaching and learning of vocabulary has long
been undervalued in the field of teaching English as a second language. Systematic learningand acquisition of English lexicon appears to be secondary to that of grammar and otherlinguistic skills (Coady, 1997). With the implementation of communicative language teachingin Hong Kong (Curriculum Development Council, 1999), which focuses largely on developing
the communicative competence of learners, the teaching of vocabulary seems to be largely at
the implicit and incidental end (DeCarrico, 2006). Learners’ attention is usually directed tousing the language for communicative purposes, rather than to the structural learning of
unknown words (Nation, 1990). When approaching a text, for instance, teachers may
frequently suggest the importance of understanding the general sense of the discourse, rather
than the meaning of individual lexical items (Hill, 2005).
Since the handover in 1997, the role of English language has been greatly reduced in HongKong. Meanwhile, the use of Chinese has been actively promoted in various social domains(Bolton, 2002). The degree of bilingualism in the community has further been weakened withthe ‘mother tongue policy’ in 1997 (Poon, 1999), by which the majority of schools aremandated to use Chinese as the medium of instruction. Rose (1999) argued that English has
gradually shifted from a second language to a foreign language in the post-colonial Hong Kong,and learners’ authentic exposure to it is rare. The growing dominance of Chinese language use
in the social context supports the argument that Hong Kong appears to be a largely monolingual
Chinese society, whereas English remains more a foreign than a second language for most of
its citizens. While incidental vocabulary learning works well for native speakers, who arealways immersed in their mother language, it may be less effective for second or foreign
language learners due to their limited exposure (DeCarrico, 2006). Opportunities for learners
to practice the target language, either in or outside the classroom, are very limited.
Despite such a restricted authentic exposure to the target language, the literature tends tosuggest that incidental vocabulary learning could greatly be facilitated if learners are equippedwith appropriate vocabulary learning strategies (DeCarrico, 2006). Examples of these include
determination strategies, cognitive strategies, and metacognitive strategies (Schmitt, 1997).
Nevertheless, as revealed by various studies, most Chinese students seem to possess a narrow

	
  

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range of vocabulary learning strategies. Zhang (2009), for example, investigated the English
vocabulary size of 481 students from six universities in Western China, and studied their
vocabulary learning approach. Results indicate that the most common strategies used by thestudents were: using a dictionary, guessing meaning in contexts, and taking notes. In his study
with 850 students from Beijing, Gu (1997) concludes that low proficient students tend to resort
to visual repetition when they attempt to learn unfamiliar words, which is “the kind of strategy
they might have used in primary school to memorize Chinese characters” (p.666), This suggeststhat weaker students would rely much on their first language learning strategy in learning asecond/foreign language. As for learners of English in Hong Kong, usingbilingual/monolingual dictionaries is considered as the most helpful discovery strategy ofvocabulary learning, followed by guessing from textual context (Xu, 2010).
Chinese learners of English appear to have strong preferences for guessing and dictionary
strategies vis-à-vis strategies like social strategies and metacognitive strategies (Marin, 2006;
Gu, 2010). The reasons that govern such learning styles, however, are hitherto speculative.
Xing and Jordan (2012) attribute such phenomena to the examination-oriented education
system in the cultural context.
Alongside rigid language course design, learners are rarely provided with ample opportunities
to learn the language through social interaction, nor do they consider it necessary to do so. Gu(2002), on the other hand, related these word study strategies to the way Chinese learners
perceive educational achievement. From a cultural perspective, success in Chinese societies isgreatly associated with diligence, while failure with lack of effort (Biggs, 1996, & Phillipson,2007). Thus, it is not surprising to find that learners tend to devote their time to ways that could
demonstrate their hard work (e.g. taking notes) amid the learning process.
In the Hong Kong primary and secondary classrooms, English teaching often follows a P-P-P
model (i.e. Presentation, Practice and Production). When a new item is introduced, the teacher
will first provide adequate input before students are assigned with opportunities to practice thetaught item and use it on their own in some learning tasks (Tang, 2004). This is the case when
direct vocabulary teaching is involved. As noted by Tang and Nesi (2003), English language
teachers in Hong Kong did not plan to teach a lot of new words in a lesson. The teaching of a
new word was often confined to the provision of input on pronunciation and/or meaning. Also,
there was no occasion when students were asked to take part in output activities.
In view of the English vocabulary learning environment in Hong Kong and the learning
characteristics of Chinese learners as mentioned above, boosting the vocabulary size of Hong
Kong students at university level may require consideration of learning needs, learnercharacteristics, and self-disposition. First, these undergraduates have limited knowledge ofword meanings as there are no guidelines for systematic second language vocabularydevelopment in the curriculum and in the classroom. Second, given the low status ofvocabulary teaching in second language education, it seems unlikely that explicit vocabulary
learning alone would bring forth sustainable growth in the target vocabulary. Third, themajority of Chinese learners are found to be under-equipped with appropriate vocabulary
learning strategies that foster incidental or independent vocabulary learning. Their restricted
use of, among other things, social strategies and metacognitive regulation suggests thatvocabulary learning occurs primarily in a controlled environment with instruction, rather thanin an autonomous manner that drives self-learning. Self-initiated learning is not practised nor
promoted in the second or foreign language classroom.

	
  

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Regardless of their discipline, university undergraduates in Hong Kong have to take a few
credit-bearing English courses in their junior years. However, these courses primarily focus onacademic reading and writing and job-related communication. There is no particular English
course which aims to expand students’ vocabulary knowledge and size. Consequently, these
university students have to take greater responsibility for their own learning if they want tolearn more words. They are expected to take control and responsibility for their own learningby choosing appropriate materials to read and adopting different strategies to consolidate theirlearning. Over the past few decades, researchers have argued that autonomous learning should
be promoted as it encourages the active involvement of learners and enables them to become
more independent in what they think, learn and how they behave (Littlewood, 1996a).
However, typical Chinese learners are perceived as dependent (Pierson, 1996) and passive(Tang & Nesi, 2003). It was also claimed that many students in Asia have very weak intentionin learning independently outside class, which in turn limits their second language learning(Lee, 1998). Thus, by developing both procedural and personal autonomy (White, 2011),
Chinese university students may be better motivated to take an active role in improving thequality of their own learning, to spend time on vocabulary learning, and to choose appropriatematerials that suit their learning needs.
An Online Independent Vocabulary Learning Platform
Learner autonomy is regarded as a crucial characteristic of all sustained learning that attains
long-term success (Littlewood, 1996b), and an e-learning platform is considered a virtual
language coach that supports self-directed learning (Wielgolawski, 2011). In order to address
the concern of vocabulary learning needs and the learning characteristics of Hong Kong
university students, an independent vocabulary learning support platform VLearn was designed
and launched in a university in Hong Kong. The aim was to (a) empower university students
with the knowledge and skills to learn new words independently outside the classroom (b)strengthen their knowledge of words and strategies to learn and remember words; (c) engage
them in online strategies-based instruction for independent learning. An evaluation project wasdeveloped to examine learners’ experiences using VLearn. The project consisted of threestages. In Stage 1, participants were invited to a workshop on vocabulary learning in VLearn.
Stage 2 was an eight week self-report study in which participants were provided withvocabulary learning logbooks to record their vocabulary learning experiences. The final stage
was an evaluation study designed to collect feedback from participants on the content design
and track their vocabulary learning profiles. The data collected helps understand the usefulness
of VLearn, and how university students tackle new words in an independent vocabulary
learning environment. The results of the evaluation study would help improve English
vocabulary instruction at university in the future.
Content design. Better learning is likely to take place when learners are aware of how theirlearning is carried out (Nation, 2001). Thus, the different aspects of word knowledge and awide range of vocabulary learning strategies with sequenced learning activities are included in
VLearn. The learning materials are divided into four sections: word knowledge, word
formation, meaning relations, and vocabulary learning. A taxonomy of vocabulary learning
strategies from Gu and Johnson (1996), Oxford (1990) and Schmitt (1997) was adopted todevise relevant methods for students to discover meaning of new words and to remember them.
Table 1 below outlines the contents of each section in VLearn, while Table 2 provides a simple
taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies in the Vocabulary Learning section.

	
  

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Table 1. Organization of VLearn
Word Knowledge•  •  Word Formation•  •  Meaning Relations•  Vocabulary Learning•  Volume 4 – Issue 1 – Spring 2016

Word meaning
Aspects of word knowledge
Internal structure of a word
Word formation processes
Various types of semantic relationship
Various vocabulary learning methods and vocabularybuilding strategies

Table 2. Taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies introduced in VLearn
Strategies for the discovery of a new
Strategies for consolidating a word once
it has been encounteredword’s meaning
Determination strategies (DET)Social strategies (SOC)

Social strategies (SOC)

Memory strategies (MEM)
Cognitive strategies (COG)
Metacognitive strategies (MET)

Sequenced learning activities. To meet the expected teaching and learning styles inherant in
the Hong Kong English classroom, the contents of each section are structured into threelearning sequences: input, practice, and quiz.
Input. The input section focuses on the conceptualization of word knowledge, word formation
process, meaning relations and descriptions of vocabulary learning strategies. To be more
specific, learners are not only introduced to the different aspects of word knowledge, but alsopresented with word formation mechanisms and morphological knowledge which facilitates
the decoding and understanding of lexical items they may encounter. In addition to theconceptualization of word knowledge, there are a number of tools and strategies to remember
and consolidate words learned.
Practice. The practice section provides students with ample examples of applications ofvocabulary learning strategies and self-assessed exercises for consolidation. With instantfeedback provided, learners can check their mastery of concepts and are directed to revisit thecontent of the relevant webpages for better understanding.
Quiz. Quizzes are available in the end of the sections ‘Word Knowledge,’ ‘Word Formation’and ‘Word Sense Relation.’ The quiz section is used for learners’ active retrieval of word
knowledge and self-assessment. It offers students concrete opportunities to assume
responsibility for their learning through assessing their learning progress.
Methods
Twenty undergraduates from different disciplines signed up for the workshop in Stage 1. In theworkshop, participants attended a lecture about the contents of VLearn. Topics included word
knowledge, word formation, meaning relations and vocabulary strategies. At the end of theworkshop, participants were invited to join an eight week self-report study of their vocabulary
learning journey. Fifteen of them volunteered to take part in Stage 2.

	
  

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In the self-report study, participants were asked to go through the contents of VLearn in detail.
Hyperlinks to reading materials such as online newspaper articles were provided on a weekly
basis to support their reading. Strategies employed to learn different vocabulary items were
subsequently documented in their logbooks (Figure 1) which were then collected at the end of
the eighth week for quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Figure 1. A sample page of VLearn logbook
One week after the completion of the self-report study, participants were invited to fill out aquestionnaire and attend individual interviews. The questionnaire was conducted to examine
students’ feedback and attitudes towards the usage of VLearn. The questionnaire, adopting a
7-point Likert scale ranging from 7 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree), consisted of 28
questions based on the design framework, usefulness and effectiveness of input, technicaldesign and technical support. Individual interviews were subsequently conducted. Data fromthe questionnaire and logbook analysis were triangulated with the interviews to verify thevalidity and reliability of the data.
Findings
Survey on Perceived Usefulness and Effectiveness of the Contents
The overall design of having input, practice and quiz appeared to be well-received by theparticipants. They rated positively towards the usefulness and appropriate level of difficulty of
the contents at each stage (see Table 3 for an overview). In particular, the input section was
rated relatively highly. It is not surprising to find that participants favored input as the contents
were probably new to them and might not have been covered in formal English classes atprimary and secondary levels and at university if they were non-English majors. In theinterview, some participants expressed they would like to have more examples and more
frequent recommended resources.
	
  

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Table 3. Perceived usefulness and level of difficulty of the contents

Input
Exercises
Quizzes

Usefulness
Mean
5.14
4.71
4.71

Appropriate Level of Difficulty
Mean
SD
5.29
1.14
5.21
1.19
5.21
1.19

SD
0.86
0.73
0.99

Although the standard deviation indicated different perceptions of the level of difficulty of thecontent, it is encouraging that these participants, who are all non-English majors, did not findthe contents difficult for them to learn on their own. The discrepancy within the group could
possibly be explained by their disciplines of study and language backgrounds. In fact, around40 per cent of the participants were science majors, whereas the other participants study withinArts, Business Administration, Engineering, and Social Science. Similarly, around 35 per centof the participants received outstanding English results in the public examination before
entering the university, while the rest of them only attained the minimum English requirement
for university entry. Notwithstanding limited coverage in the local English curriculum andEnglish courses at university, the input in different sections appeared to be favored by theparticipants in a self-access learning environment (see Table 4).
In the Vocabulary Learning Strategies section, the ‘Keyword method’, ‘Imagery’, ‘Stories’,and ‘Semantic map’ scored relatively lower than other strategies. As reported in the interviews,
these methods were new to the participants. They were, somehow, considered as lessstraightforward. At the same time, they required a certain degree of creativity. As argued byWong (2004), the Chinese education system demanded conformity and ‘might not be
conducive to the development of creative thinking’ (p. 156). This could possibly explain why
our participants appear not to favor the ‘creative’ methods of learning vocabulary, which theywould consider difficult to master. Not surprisingly, the nature of the strategies andparticipants’ familiarity with the strategies are likely to be associated with the participants’
perceived usefulness of the input given.
Table 4. Perceived usefulness of the input sections
Input
Word Knowledge
Word Formation Processes
Word Sense Relations
Vocabulary Learning Strategies Vocabulary Collector
Word List
Keyword Method
Imagery
Stories
Semantic Map

Mean
5.43
5.50
5.21
5.07
5.36
4.62
3.92
4.00
4.07

SD
1.02
1.09
0.58
1.00
0.93
0.77
1.26
1.75
1.14

When participants showed a clear preference of different vocabulary learning methods, it isalso predictable to find similar results for the effectiveness of using those methods in learningand remembering new words (Table 5). Participants also rated ‘Vocabulary Collector’ and‘Word List’ strategies considerably higher, showing they would still rely on familiar strategies
when they encountered new words. However, participants seemed to be quite receptive to otherunfamiliar strategies as well. They were aware of the effectiveness of ‘Imagery’, ‘Stories’, and

	
  

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‘Semantic Map’ in helping them remember new words, suggesting they understood the natureof these methods. They also made use of the sounds in their first/native language to learn andremember the pronunciation of new words.
Learning Journey: A Logbook Analysis
During the eight week self-learning period, fifteen participants encountered a total number of
626 new words. The sources of those new words mainly came from academic materials (e.g.
IELTS word lists, GRE word lists, course materials), leisure reading materials (e.g. magazines,
newspaper articles), and entertainment (e.g. television, songs, movies). Yet, it is noteworthy
that the students did not seem to have developed English reading habits and needed to beprovided with reading sources or materials to facilitate their learning.
Table 5. Perceived effectiveness in Vocabulary Learning Strategies in learning andremembering new words

Vocabulary Collector
Word List
Keyword Method
Imagery
Stories
Semantic Map

Learning new words
Mean
SD
5.00
1.24
5.29
0.99
4.21
0.97
3.71
1.38
3.31
1.49
3.71
1.33

Remembering new words
Mean
SD
5.07
1.14
5.21
1.37
4.43
1.16
4.14
1.61
3.57
1.45
4.00
1.30

Aspects of word knowledge. Of all the 626 new words, participants showed a clear interest in
knowing the meaning, pronunciation, spelling, and parts of speech (Figure 2). Of these aspects,
word meaning received by far the most attention. With the belief that understanding themeaning of a new word is crucial, some participants expressed they consistently looked formeanings when they encountered unfamiliar vocabulary items. The result is not surprising, forlearning vocabulary is often perceived as learning meanings (Brown, 2010). Mastering thepronunciation of a word also appears to be an important part of the participants’ vocabulary
learning process. According to these second/foreign language learners, they habitually madean effort to check the pronunciation of unfamiliar lexical items. It is noteworthy that technology
has promoted the practice. One participant related this habit to the availability of the mobile
application in his smartphone, which allowed him to check the pronunciation more readily. The
results on aspects of word knowledge are consistent with the direct vocabulary teachingobserved in Hong Kong schools where teaching meaning and pronunciation were the principal
treatments of new words (Tang & Nesi, 2003).

	
  

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Figure 1: Aspects of word knowledge
Noticeably, the learning of connotation, collocation, synonyms or antonyms, and other formsof a word were not the major concerns of the participants. Whilst a participant suggested that
he only put effort into learning a word by identifying its connotation and collocation when hefound the lexical item particularly sophisticated, other participants commented that theirEnglish teachers seldom encouraged them to focus on these two aspects during their lessons.
As a result, they did not even understand what these concepts mean. Also remarkable to note,
whether or not a word has ‘other forms’ received the least attention of all eight aspects of word
knowledge. One probable explanation may be that the participants were very much goaloriented. They were satisfied with their learning after comprehending the meaning or knowing
the sound of the word and therefore did not explore its word family.
Vocabulary Learning Strategies. An examination of the learning logs reveals an unbalanced
use of vocabulary learning strategies by the participants. They tended to use strategies which
are useful and effective in learning new words rather than remembering or consolidating thelearning of new words. Table 6 below shows how frequently vocabulary learning strategies
were used by the participants. Determination strategies, particularly ‘consulting dictionaries’and ‘guessing from context’ methods, played a pivotal role in the vocabulary learning process.
Social strategies, however, were rarely adopted by participants, implying that they might findlearning a more personal or individual process.

	
  

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Table 6. Vocabulary learning strategies adopted by the participants (Total number of newwords = 626)
Vocabulary Learning Strategies Adopted(in order of frequency)
Consult dictionary
Guess from context
Practice new word
Continue to revise
Keep a vocabulary notebook
Use a thesaurus
Connect words with already known words
Analyze its word parts
Connect the word to its synonym, etc.
Find out L1 translation
Narrate a story with new words
Ask other people
Associate word with mother tongue
Compile a word list
Create an image / picture
Draw a semantic map
Other strategies

Taxonomy

%

DET
DET
COG
MET
COG
MEM
MEM
DET
MEM
DET
MEM
SOC
MEM
DET/COG
MEM
MEM
/

96
38
23
20
18
15
14
8
7
6
4
3
3
3
2
1
0

It may be worth noting that consulting a dictionary was by far the most valued determination
strategy in the self-report study. Apparently, the participants relied heavily on dictionaries invocabulary learning because dictionaries can provide word knowledge (meaning,pronunciation, spelling, and parts of speech) they were most eager to learn about a new word.
Most participants also suggested that consulting dictionaries was the most ‘straightforward’and ‘effective’ method to gain vocabulary knowledge. Indeed, technology also reinforced theirchoice as the online dictionaries and mobile applications on dictionaries have greatly enhanced
the readiness and availability of the resource.
Guessing from context was another popular determination strategy adopted. One participant
explained that she usually tried to guess the meaning of an unknown word from the context
due to her belief that such practice “might facilitate deep processing.” Yet, she considered
confirming her guesses via consulting dictionaries to be necessary since she was worried she
might misinterpret the meaning of a word without doing so.
Certain strategies were rarely used by the participants. In particular, social strategies wererarely adopted. Out of the 626 words learned, only 16 words (3%) had been learned throughasking other people. While a participant admitted that she would ask her friend, who was an
English major, only if she studied in the library with her, other participants indicated that they
‘did not see the need of doing so.’ From their perspective, asking other people for help was‘unnecessary’ because they could always check the meaning of a word using online dictionaries
with ease.
Indeed, various types of memory strategies, including forming an image, narrating a story withnew words, creating an image/picture and drawing a semantic map, were scarcely adopted. To
	
  

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most participants, these methods of learning vocabulary were “too creative” and “imeconsuming.” Not seeing “the purpose of using the methods” and being “uncertain about how
the methods worked.” they were more willing to spend time memorizing new words as they
perceived it a “more direct method” to learn vocabulary. These comments suggested thatparticipants were not familiar with these methods or they did not even know these memory
strategies for new words.
Discussion
Aspects of Word Knowledge
In most Asian countries, explicit or direct teaching of vocabulary is common in English as a
Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. However, thegreat majority of the planned and unplanned new words to be taught in Chinese ESL/EFL
classrooms is only treated with unmodified or premodified input, indicating that teachers
mostly focus on sound and meaning of the new words, and the presentation was short and direct(Tang and Nesi, 2003). According to Brown (2010), form and meaning often receive the mostattention in general English textbooks at different levels, while the other aspects of word
knowledge receive negligible or even no attention. Vocabulary teaching and learning in the
Asian ESF/EFL context attends mainly to the ‘partial-precise dimension’ of receptive word
knowledge. They fail to address the ‘depth dimension’ in developing vocabulary knowledge(Zhang, 2012, p.33).
Although participants in this study favored the word knowledge content in the input section, in
the actual learning process, it is obvious that they still put great emphasis on meaning, form
and pronunciation with little attention given to collocations, connotations and other forms
because most aspects of word knowledge are neglected in earlier years of English vocabulary
instruction.
Use of Dictionaries
Consistently, a dictionary is perceived by both teachers and students as the moststraightforward method to understand and learn new words. However, most traditional
analogue dictionaries can only provide limited knowledge of a word. A comprehensive
coverage of all aspects of word knowledge in a single dictionary is always impossible becauseof pragmatic concerns, e.g. price, page limit and weight. Online dictionaries or mobile
applications on dictionaries, on the other hand, are considered as “convenient,” “handy” and“accessible” vocabulary learning tools for most participants in this study. Most digitised
dictionaries will include popular aspects of word knowledge, e.g. sound, spelling, grammar,
and synonyms, which are also found in traditional dictionaries. Some well-developed digitized
dictionaries include word origins, word lists and forum to stimulate interest, suggest learningneeds, and promote collaborative learning. With easy accessibility to technology and detailed
information, online dictionaries or mobile applications on dictionaries are more preferredresources to enhance the depth dimension in vocabulary knowledge development among
second language learners. Although most analogue and digitized dictionaries provide examples
to illustrate the use and usage of the target word, abundant exposure and authentic language
use in different contexts and genres and in spoken and written modes enables learners tohypothesize and understand form, meaning, and use of the word (Nation, 2001). The language
corpus available as internet resources (e.g., Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English,
British National Corpus) allows learners to see how the word is used appropriately andcorrectly in authentic texts so as to strengthen their exposure to aspects of word knowledge.

	
  

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Vocabulary Instruction
In this study, participants claimed that most input in VLearn were unfamiliar to them. The
failure to provide relevant and adequate input about the meaning of a word and different
vocabulary learning strategies in instruction and textbooks has led to participants overlooking
the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of learning a word. The instruction on new words in local textbooks
primarily attends to receptive knowledge with explanation of meaning and form. In classroom
practice, teachers will teach the sound as well. As noted by Waring (2002), teachers often leave
vocabulary learning to students themselves and rarely introduce different vocabulary learning
strategies for vocabulary development. Strategies which require creative use of language were
not practised in the classroom. Imagery, narrating a story with new words, and drawing asemantic map are not favored by English teachers because these methods require more classtime than can be afforded. Participants’ past learning experience indeed had a strong influenceon their choice of vocabulary learning strategies during the learning process. As noted,
vocabulary treatment in textbooks and instructional practices are not conducive to strategy
development. Participants in this study showed an imbalance in the use of strategies forlearning and remembering new words. They adopted memory, cognitive, and metacognitive
strategies sparingly. Thus, it is not surprising that most students learn and forget new words
easily. Consequently, this limits their vocabulary growth throughout their years of English
study.
Vocabulary instruction in the early years seems to initiate impoverished word knowledge andword processing problems. As such, English curriculum developers, textbook writers andEnglish teachers should take greater responsibility for ensuring an extensive and systematic
coverage of the various aspects of word knowledge and the different vocabulary learning
strategies at different stages of schooling. It is important that systematic introduction of aspectsof word knowledge should start in early years of English education and the practice of a variety
of vocabulary learning and building strategies should also be strengthened through instruction.
Online Independent Learning for Asian Students
To promote independent second language learning, it is crucial to help learners develop a
positive learning attitude, set specific learning goals, and develop a process for language
knowledge and use. However, effective independent online platforms must not ignore thecontextual and cultural background of the target users. Studies have shown that Asian students
prefer teacher guidance (Gan, 2009) and they often see teachers as an authority in their learning
process (Littlewood, 2000). Second language learners at all ages, levels and learning modes
need guidance and support during the language learning process. Rich content on word
knowledge and a variety of vocabulary learning strategies were viewed by the participants as
helpful in setting vocabulary learning goals and raising their awareness of the process ofacquiring vocabulary knowledge. The design of VLearn addresses the learning culture of these
Chinese second language learners who expect a familiar structured and sequenced learning
path to guide them in the process of learning.
Future Development
To date, numerous online resources and websites on vocabulary learning are available online.
Yet, to maintain interest and motivation to access the site for continuous self-improvement andself-learning, elements for sustainment are required. At present, most vocabulary learning
platforms are static pages with regular reviewing and updating. To improve the sustainabilityof an online platform for independent learning, learners need to be ‘activated’ and ‘involved’.
They need to develop a sense of ownership of the platform and be a member of the bigger
	
  

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Volume 4 – Issue 1 – Spring 2016vocabulary learning community. With the popularity of social interaction in the virtualenvironment, VLearn can be transformed to create an interactive and dialogic setting forcollaborative learning with the Web 2.0 concept. The shared learning experience will then be
more conducive and supportive to provide a vigorous learning environment where students
have full autonomy to be in charge of their own vocabulary learning. VLearn can also beenhanced by integrating more interactive components such as discussion boards, which canallow an exchange of ideas among users. As such, new information and knowledge can begenerated in order for VLearn to serve as a self-managed platform and a growing learning
community.
Conclusion
VLearn seemed to be a fruitful experience among this particular cohort of university students.
Participants claimed to have learned more about how to learn new words. However, theevaluation study also showed that learners’ word knowledge and strategy use were to a great
extent affected by what they were taught at school. These results can be used to make informed
curriculum and pedagogical decisions to support comprehensive vocabulary instruction in theearly years and promote independent vocabulary building in higher education. The study also
sheds light on the great potential of making use of existing technology to develop the depth
dimension of word knowledge, exchange learning experiences, reflect on one’s own learningand refine vocabulary learning goals independently in this digital native era. Asian classrooms
share a lot of similarities – learning culture, teaching style, examination system, as well as
learning difficulties. In learning a second or foreign language, most Asian students findvocabulary particularly problematic. The difficulties of learning vocabulary cannot be ignored,
both in the early years or at a tertiary level. Different aspects of word knowledge and a variety
of vocabulary learning strategies should be systematically introduced and practiced throughout
the instructed second/foreign language learning process and in a self-directed learning
experience.

	
  

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