The Effectiveness of Vocabulary Learning Strategies on English language Acquisition of the Saudi Learners

It is widely believed that vocabulary knowledge is so closely tied to language mastery. This tends to be one of the greatest challenges language learners encounter during their long journey in language acquisition. The challenge is due to the great number of words that learners suppose to comprehend and master as to be able to understand, communicate and use the target language (English) effectively. One of the effective avenues that has been found to greatly impact vocabulary acquisition are vocabulary learning strategies (VLS). Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the strategies prioritized by Saudi 2nd high school students when learning English vocabulary. It is proposed that VLS would aid Saudi learners, of all levels in general and high school level in particular, to acquire a vast number of vocabulary which consequently will motivate them to become avid, lifelong learners. The findings show that Saudi high school English learners employed some strategies, yet unconsciously, more than others. Guessing word‟s meaning from contexts, using dictionaries and memorizing new words seem to be the most preferable ones. Other strategies such as note taking and seeking help from others were less adopted