TITLE:
Beyond Memorization: Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Lexical Outcomes among Chinese Secondary EFL Learners
AUTHORS:
Pin’an Shen, Ya’nan Wu
KEYWORDS:
Vocabulary Learning Strategies, Vocabulary Size, Chinese EFL Learners, Secondary Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.1,
January
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: Vocabulary learning in Chinese secondary EFL classrooms has long been characterized by a strong reliance on rote memorization, despite increasing recognition of the role of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) in lexical development. However, large-scale empirical evidence concerning how adolescent learners deploy different strategy types and how such strategies relate to vocabulary outcomes across educational stages remains limited. Drawing on data from 900 junior and senior high school EFL learners in eastern China, this study adopts a quantitative cross-sectional design to examine patterns of VLS use and their associations with receptive vocabulary size. Strategy use was measured using a validated VLS questionnaire, and vocabulary knowledge was assessed via the Vocabulary Size Test. Results revealed that memory strategies were reported most frequently across both educational stages, whereas senior high school learners demonstrated significantly greater use of cognitive, meta-cognitive, and inferencing strategies. Regression analyses further revealed that meta-cognitive and inferencing strategies emerged as the strongest predictors of vocabulary size, while reliance on rote memorization showed no significant association with lexical outcomes. These findings highlight clear developmental differences in strategic behavior and underscore the central role of strategic regulation and contextual inferencing in adolescent EFL vocabulary development. Implications are discussed for theory-driven vocabulary instruction beyond mechanical memorization.