Strategies of Learning English Vocabulary and Grammar by Freshmen University Students : A Case Study of An-Najah National University and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie ( PTUK ) \ Tulkarm

Naser Amin Kamel Abu Saa, Jafar Wasfi Abu Saa and Abd-Al-Hameed Mustafa Mahmoud Jabsheh ✉ Lecturer, The Language Center, An-Najah National University Dean, Faculty of Arts and Educational Sciences, Palestine Technical UniversityKadoorie (PTUK) Lecturer, Department of Languages, Palestine Technical UniversityKadoorie (PTUK) Corresponding Author: Abd-Al-Hameed Mustafa Mahmoud Jabsheh, E-mail: ptc2004w@hotmail.com


Background
Learning English has not been an easy task, especially in a foreign setting. O'Malley and Chamot (1990; Oxford, 1990;Oxford et al. 2007, cited in Ghannam, 2019) further explain that learners of a foreign language need aiding strategies because the process of foreign language learning is complex and that the related research confirms the positive effect of the use of learning strategies on the process of language learning. Maryam & Hashemi (2016) concludes that "There are many factors involved in learning a language; what seems prudent is the fact that language teachers should provide and teach different strategies to the learners as most of them are unaware of these strategies." Sadighi & Zarafshan (2006, cited in Rabadi, 2016 conclude that "emphasis has to shift from language instructors and teaching to language learners and learning." Gu (2003, cited in Carneiro 2014) stated that "Good learners seem to be those who initiate their own learning." As a result, it can be stated that initiating students can be attributed to having the ability to use any set of activities, strategies, procedures, notions that language learners use to assist in the knowledge, storing, recovery and usage of language. Rubin (1987); O'Malley and Chammot (1995, Cited in Rabadi, 2016); Brosh (2019 ) further explain that "Some strategies were knowledge-based (such as learning vocabulary and grammar), and others were control-based aimed at practice to develop language fluency (such as speaking and interaction with the teacher).
"Accordingly, it can be stated that the use of language learning strategies, in a foreign setting, seems to be unavoidable due to the complexity of the learning context of the foreign language, the facilitating and aiding nature of such learning strategies, because of the proposed gains a learner gets as a result of using these learning strategies, and, in addition, the essential role they play as stated by Maryam and Hashemi (2016) that "Learning strategies play an important role in the development of language skills." Although this study bears the limitation of confining research to two of the Palestinian universities, the researchers followed a quantitative approach and built a questionnaire which was distributed to a sample of freshmen students of two Palestinian universities, namely, An-Najah National University in the city of Nablus, and Palestine Technical University -Kadoorie (PTUK) in the city of Tulkarm; the two universities are located in the southern part of Palestine, and both of them are relatively near in a geographical sense.

The significance of this study
The aim of this study is to investigate the learning strategies practised by Arabic-speaking Palestinian university freshmen students while learning English vocabulary and grammar. In a Palestinian setting, English is taught as a foreign language, and much attention is given, based on the researchers experience in the field, to the teaching-learning vocabulary and grammar, on the ground that the more vocabulary items and grammatical rules a student acquire or learns, the more successful they are proposed to be in acquiring, learning, and producing other skills and sub-skills of the English language. As a result, it can be stated that one facet of the significance of this study lies in the fact that it can orient the attention of educators, teachers, and English language curriculum planners a wider scope of understanding in regard to those strategies that are practised by Palestinian students who learn English as a foreign language; another facet of the significance of this study is also the fact that it can offer some formidable account of how students or learners sometimes erroneously use a given strategy while learning English vocabulary and grammar; moreover, another facet of the significance of this study is that, and as far as the researchers know, it will be the first of its kind especially in a Palestinian setting.

Statement of the problem
Learning vocabulary and grammar occupies a central area within the sphere of learning any language, but it receives an extra magnitude when it is connected with learning English as a foreign language, and, especially, to Arabic-speaking students at the university level and learners who normally exhibit an inadequate level of competency in regard to both English vocabulary and grammar; this inadequate level of competency, depending on the researchers' experience in the field, which extends over a scope of several years, and their mere observation, is proposed to be attributed to either the lack of strategies enhanced by the students or learners or erroneous usage of strategies at the students or learners' disposal.

Literature review
The following literature review, which is arranged and presented in relatively chronological order, aims at supporting the purpose and argument of this study to investigate those learning strategies that are practised by Palestinian university freshmen students while learning English vocabulary and grammar; this review is divided into two sections: the first section surveyed the strategies normally practised by students and learners while learning English vocabulary, and the second surveyed those strategies normally practised by students and learners while learning English grammar. Nation (1990, cited in Rabadi, 2016 concludes that "language learners have to learn how to store, recall, and use new vocabulary items by employing several kinds of vocabulary learning strategies." Schmitt & Schmitt (1995, cited in Carneiro, 2014 state that "Materials which give space to personal learning logs, like vocabulary notebooks, encourage students to continue learning outside of class. Although learning logs are often recommended to be in loose-leaf folders or on cards and separate from the textbook. " Schmitt (1997;Sökmen 1997, cited in Carneiro 2014) confirm that "Organizing vocabulary in meaningful ways makes it easier to learn. " Schmitt (1997, cited in Yudintseva, 2015 proposes that "second language learners acquire vocabulary initially through the discovery of word's meaning (discovery strategies) and then by remembering the word (consolidation strategies) when its meaning has been already discovered. The meaning can be reached either independently (determination strategies) by guessing from contextual clues or socially (social strategies) by asking teachers or peers for help. "Huckin & Coady (1999, cited in Yudintseva, 2015), indicated that "Most vocabulary both native speakers and second language learners acquire incidentally through "multiple exposures to a word in different contexts" such as reading, listening, and interactions." Schmitt (2000, cited in Yudintseva, 2015 proposes that "Vocabulary learning is a life-long process; therefore, mastery of these word knowledge types is gained gradually and randomly and at different rates. Hung, 2015) argues that " intentional learning of vocabulary speeds up learners' process of lexical development due to focused repetition or memorization strategies, which can be completed individually in a short period of time. It has also been argued that the retention rates of intentional vocabulary learning are generally higher than those obtained with incidental learning. "Al Regeb (2009; Al Khawaldeh 2011, cited in Al-Ghaz & MSmadi 2013) confirm that "reading increases readers' knowledge (general and specific), it increases and builds vocabulary that helps readers to communicate with others. "Elgort and Nation (2010) concluded that "deliberate techniques, such as learning from vocabulary notebooks, word lists, and word cards, are useful approaches for achieving the acquisition of the second language (L2) vocabulary effectively and efficiently. "Bavand Savadkouhi, Taghi Hassani & Rahmani (2013) indicate that "some teachers believe the students have different vocabulary skills and they use different strategies when they try to recall new vocabularies." Carneiro (2014 ) concludes that "One of the first vocabulary learning strategies for any classroom is how to ask for words you don't know in English, and how to ask the meaning of English words you don't understand. "Carneiro (2014) adds that "Learning vocabulary is largely about remembering, and students generally need to see, say, and write newly learned words many times before they can be said to have learned them. "Carneiro (2014) also concludes that "Good vocabulary notebook activities show students what is worth writing down and give ideas for various ways of organizing vocabulary notes, using different grouping ideas, as mentioned above. "Hung (2015) proposed that "As applied to lexical development, language learners must consciously notice L2 features in the input and pay deliberate attention to form meaning connections of vocabulary items to optimize L2 learning. For this reason, vocabulary is commonly taught explicitly and directly in foreign language classrooms to compensate for the limited exposure and resources that may otherwise be available. " Maryam & Maryam & Hashemi (2016) also conclude that "freshmen students, particularly students majoring in surgical technology used memorization technique followed by dictionary use and note taking strategies more than the senior students. In particular, male students were more autonomous while female students preferred to use social strategies. Overall, guessing and dictionary strategies were the most frequently used strategies among all the learners. " Maryam & Hashemi (2016) add that "Studies on VLS and language achievements have indicated that successful L2 learners employ a wide range of strategies to learn and master vocabulary. " Rabadi (2016) concludes that " Language learners need to use strategies to help them acquire new lexical items and to have a rich vocabulary. The use of suitable strategies makes a distinction between experienced learners and beginners in many learning areas."

Strategies of learning vocabulary
In summary, The above-mentioned review categorized some of the strategies that learners of the English language exploit in order to learn vocabulary; these include using dictionaries, asking about the meaning or usage of a new word, reading and guessing the meanings of new words within a given context, listing and organizing new words using notebook activities, and then enhancing the recalling, remembering, and storing strategies. The above-mentioned literature considered vocabulary learning strategies to be an attribute to independent and experienced learners as successful learners normally make use of different types of vocabulary learning strategies. The above-mentioned review also regarded vocabulary learning strategies as to be a [lifelong commitment, gradual and random in nature, different in rate, incidentally acquired, and deliberate in orientation]

Strategies of learning Grammar
Swain & Lapkin (1998, cited in Larsen-Freeman, 2015) mention some conditional benefits "when students made opportunities for themselves to discuss grammar explicitly in 'language-related episodes,' where students talk together about the language they are using and discuss which correct form they should produce. Griffiths 2008; Oxford 2007, cited in Ghannam 2019 ) conclude that " Learners use certain strategies when learning grammar to enhance their grammar learning proficiency and to make language learning and language use easier, more effective, and more efficient as these strategies control and facilitate the learning process. Loewen, Fei, Thompson, Nakatsukasa, Ahn & Chen (2009) state that "many learners stated that they did not like memorization: "I don't like memorizing grammars" (English) and "To be given a list of grammar rules and then memorizing them" (Japanese). Ismail (2010) concludes that "students strongly believed that explicit grammar instruction could play a positive role in foreign language learning. Students indicated clearly that they preferred to be taught in that way as the formal study of grammar helped them keep the rules of grammar in mind when they wrote in a foreign language or when they read what had been written by others or by them." Larsen-Freeman (2012, cited in Larsen-Freeman, 2015), proposes that "students would be better served to learn grammar through iteration, which modifies their grammatical resources rather than simple repetition that copies them exactly." Shuib, Abdullah, Azizan, & Gunasegaran (2015) propose that "Mobile-based approach to teaching and learning of English grammar is unique in that it allows the language learners to benefit from the learning process in a ubiquitous and more personalized manner. This approach can also enrich, enliven, or add variety to the conventional method of grammar learning. " Türkmen and Aydin (2016) found that "the use of online concordances and authentic texts promote teaching grammar in EFL learning and teaching processes. "Türkmen & Aydin (2016) also recommends that "teachers should integrate online concordances into their classroom practices to teach grammar and vocabulary effectively. " Peng (2017) states that "Grammar instruction does not simply mean teaching students to recite the grammatical rules which are commonplace in traditional grammar; moreover, it provides the key to the cognitive system of a nation. " Saengboon (2017) proposes that "no inclusion of explicit grammar instruction may, in turn, result in even lower proficiency because the students, studying English in an EFL environment, do not seem to have a good grasp of language elements that in fact could assist them in developing communicative competence." Brosh (2019) concludes that "participants also recognized the importance of reading aloud, translation from English into Arabic, and learning grammar, especially when combined with correcting sentences on the board, a strategy that focuses on grammar and vocabulary. "Ghannam (2019) states that "most participants agreed on the effectiveness of the cognitive strategies, especially in explicit learning which was detected in the case of "revising regularly", "practising over and over", and "memorizing rules"." Ghannam (2019 ) adds that "FL learners prefer to learn grammar explicitly rather than implicitly, as practising with native speakers might not give them the opportunity to learn grammar rules explicitly. Ghannam (2019) also added that "However, most participants developed their GLSs through 'selfdiscovery' and 'trial and error'. They tried numerous techniques until they found the most effective and convenient ones when they faced a new grammar point." According to the above-mentioned review, grammar is learnt and taught explicitly rather than implicitly, and learners normally use certain strategies when learning grammar: first, learners can learn grammar explicitly by making opportunities for themselves to discuss grammar, practice and repetition, recall and memorize grammatical rules, read authentic texts, and recite and revise grammatical rules. The above-mentioned review also presented some other strategies that can be utilized while learning grammar, such as mobile-based grammar learning and online concordances, which can be incorporated into classroom practices. In addition, the previous review indicated that learners might try numerous techniques and strategies in order to find the most effective and convenient ones to learn grammar, which is a self-dependent strategy.

Methodology and Discussion
To achieve the purpose of this study, the researchers followed a descriptive quantitative approach; a 20 -item questionnaire, which was constructed in accordance with the related literature and the consultation of experts in the field, was distributed to a random sample of (260) students out of the whole population of the study which comprised students from two Palestinian universities: An-Najah National University-Nablus, and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie (PTUK) -Tulkarm campus; the validity of the questionnaire was accredited by 12 professors of education at the Palestinian Universities who did confirm that the instrument is valid, but, accordingly, the referees recommended that the questionnaire should be rebuilt within the scope of 20 items; in addition, the reliability of the questionnaire was measured through the internal consistency and the Cronbach's alpha factor which vouched for the validity of the instrument as its calculated value reached ( 0.92). The devised questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, and each question was a 5-point Likert item from "not much" to "a great deal"; On the scale," a great deal "was given five, while "much" was given one point as shown in (Table 3) below. The collected data were processed using the SPSS, t-Test and averages; the tables (1, 2, and 3) below show the related calculated values :

Startegies of Learning English Vocabulary and Grammar by Freshmen University Students: A Case Study of An-Najah National University and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie(PTUK)\ Tulkarm
Page | 54  To answer such a question, averages and percentages are used for each item in the questionnaire.

Vocabulary Results
As can be seen from (Table 4), the averages and percentages of the results are given in descending order according to averages.  (4) show the responses of the target sample towards the strategies that are enhanced by the students while learning vocabulary: the values indicate that the highest strategy is item number (1) "I repeat the words I have learned recently loudly." with an average of (4. 19), and a percentage of (83.70). The researchers believe, depending on their experience in the field, that this result may be attributed to the fact that students were under the influence of such a learning strategy, which mainly depends on repetition and rote learning, they had acquired during their school education; to them-the students-this strategy is thought to be the most effective method to grasp new vocabulary. On the other hand, the lowest strategy was item number (10), "I connect the words I have learned recently to a picture or a diagram." with an average of (3.87) and a percentage of (77.42). The researchers believe, in accordance with their experience in the field, that this result is a natural reflection of the students' tendency towards exerting enough effort or toil may be required in their learning process; in addition, the researchers also believe that this result can be an expected side-effect of the amount of distraction that students of today may suffer from, and, most dangerously the prevailing culture, among students of today, depending on the researchers' experience in the field, the tendency to follow those learning strategies that are ready-made, of tailored molds, and those that require the minimum effort and struggle.

Grammar Results
As can be seen from Table (5) below, the averages and percentages of the results are given in descending order according to averages.

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The values in Table (5) show that the highest strategy enhanced by the students while learning English grammar is item number (17) "I use the grammatical rules I have learned in meaningful and grammatically correct sentences. "with an average of (4.00) and a percentage of (80.15%); depending on their experience in the field, the researchers believe that this result is not surprising due to the fact that university Arabic-speaking students normally inherit the effect of the Grammar Translation Method (GTM ), which focuses on the application of grammar and correct sentence structure, from their school years.
The values in Table (5) also show that the lowest strategy that is enhanced by students while learning English grammar is item number (19) "I learn by heart some sentences as examples of the grammatical rules I have learned."; the researchers believe that this result is a normal yield to the fact that students tend to tasks that require the least demand of effort, and, at the same time, it-this result-reveals the amount of distraction that students of today are suffering from.
Second: Results pertaining to Question 2: "Are there any differences of statistical significance in the degree of practices of learning English grammar and vocabulary at An-Najah National University and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie(PTUK), as exhibited by the students, attributed to the variables of gender, college, and university? To test this hypothesis, a t-Test was used, and Table (6) shows the results of the t-Test with reference to the degree of students' learning practices of grammatical rules and vocabulary according to the variable of gender. Table (6) shows that the value of (∝ = 0.801) in the study is greater in value than the norm value when (∝ ≤0.05). So zero hypothesis is accepted that there are no differences of statistical significance in relation to the variable of gender between males and females: The researchers believe that this result may be attributed to the fact that the subjects of the sample of this study have come from nearly the same geographical, cultural, and attitudinal backgrounds, to the extent that some of them belong to the same family as brothers, sisters, or relatives; on the other hand, the researchers believe the slight statistical difference in favour of females can be attributed to the fact that females normally, in a Palestinian setting, and as the case is elsewhere, have more commitment, more motivation, more consistency towards the requirement of their learning especially language; the researchers also believe that females exhibit more readiness towards learning languages because of, maybe, biological reasons. A t-Test was used to test this hypothesis, and as Table (7) shows that value of (∝ = 0.23 ) in the study which is considered greater in value than the norm value when (∝ ≤0.05); as a result, the zero hypothesis is accepted; the researchers believe that this result is a direct yield to the fact that the subjects of this study are mostly university freshmen students studying English introductory courses, and, accordingly, the influence of college or specialization on students' learning strategies, of English vocabulary and grammar, may not be easily tracked in such a context; in addition , the researchers believe, depending on their experience in the field, that this result can be also explained by acknowledging the fact that most Palestinian university freshmen students share much in regard to the strategies they exploit while learning English vocabulary and grammar, which were basically inherited from their schools which indirectly share a unified approach towards learning English as a foreign language.   (8) shows, the value of (∝ =0.27) in the study is greater in value than the norm value of ( ∝ ≤0.05), which means that the zero hypothesis is accepted. The researchers believe that this result can be explained by considering the geographical nearness of two universities -An-Najah National University -Nablus c, and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie (PTUK)\ Tulkarm Campus-to the extent that the two universities share one campus in the City of Tulkarm; in addition, the freshmen students of the two universities share nearly the same geographical, cultural, and attitudinal backgrounds.

Findings and conclusions
The findings of this study indicate that the highest strategy that is practised by the sample students of this study while learning vocabulary is that "I repeat the words I have learned recently loudly."This study concludes that the highest frequency of practising this strategy in learning vocabulary is attributed to the fact that students have been under the influence of such a learning strategy, which mainly depends on repetition and rote learning, they acquired during their school education; while the lowest strategy that is practised by the sample students of this study while learning vocabulary is that "I connect the words I have learned recently to a picture or a diagram." This study concludes that this result represents a natural reflection of the students' tendency to avoid exerting enough effort or toil that may be required to accomplish a given learning task; by the same token, this study concludes that this result represents an expected side-effect of the amount of distraction that students of today may suffer from, and, most dangerously the prevailing culture, among students of today, depending on the researchers' experience in the field, the tendency to follow those learning tasks that are ready-made, of tailored molds, and those that require the least effort and the minimum amount of struggle. Findings of this study indicate that the highest strategy practiced by the students while learning English grammar is that "I use the grammatical rules I have learned in meaningful and grammatically correct sentences." This study concludes that this result is connected to the fact that Arabic-speaking university freshmen students are under the influence of the Grammar Translation Method (GTM ), which focuses on the application of grammar and correct sentence structure, which they have inherited from their school years. Findings of this study indicate that the lowest strategy that is practised by students while learning English Grammar is that "I learn by heart some sentences as examples of the grammatical rules I have learned." This study concludes that this result is a normal yield to the fact that students tend to tasks that require the least demand of effort, and, at the same time, it-this result-reveals the amount of distraction, and maybe the scope of memory decay, that students of today are suffering from. Findings of this study indicate that there are no differences of statistical significance in the degree of practices of learning English grammar and vocabulary at An-Najah National University and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie (PTUK), as exhibited by the students, attributed to the variables of gender, college, and university; conclusions of this study indicate that this result is attributed to the fact that this result may be attributed to be a yield to various set of reasons: first, the subjects of the sample of this study have come from nearly the same geographical, cultural, attitudinal backgrounds to the extent that some of them are members of the same family as brothers, sisters, or relatives ; second, most Palestinian university freshmen students share much in regard to the strategies they exploit while learning English vocabulary and grammar, which were basically inherited from their schools which indirectly and relatively adopt a unified approach towards learning English as a foreign language; and, third, the geographical nearness of two universities -An-Najah National University -Nablus city, and Palestine Technical