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

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the learning strategies practised by Palestinian Arabic-speaking freshmen students of An-Najah National University-Nablus, and Palestine Technical University-Kadoorie (PTUK) - Tulkarm Campus while learning English vocabulary and Grammar. To achieve the purpose of this study, the researchers followed a descriptive quantitative approach, and as a result, a 20 -item questionnaire was constructed and distributed to a random sample of (260) freshmen students who were enrolling in English introductory courses. Findings of this study indicated that students mostly exploit learning strategies that require the minimum effort and toil, and, by the same token, they -the students- follow the same paradigm in enhancing learning strategies that mainly depend on repetition and rote learning, especially while learning English grammar. Findings of this study indicate that the learning strategies practised by students; while learning English grammar and vocabulary are mostly under the effect of those learning strategies which have been acquired during school education. Findings of this study also indicate that there were no statistical differences in regard to the variable of gender, university, and college because of the geographical, cultural, and attitudinal proximities among the subjects of this study. Depending on the findings of this study, the researchers have come to various sets of conclusions and recommendations.