The comparison of Vocabulary Learning Strategies among First Year and Senior Students at Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: learning strategies are mindful beliefs and actions that learners apply in order to acheive learning objective. The aim of this study was to compare the vocabulary learning strategies among first and senior students at Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2011. Materials and methods: In this cross- sectional study all the first year and last year students in different fields of study were evaluated. The instrument utilized was a modified version of Gu and Johnson questionnaire which consisted of 45 items related to the students' approach to vocabulary learning.  The participants were asked to answer each item with a 5-point Likert-style frequency scale as follows:) I never or almost never do this, 2) I don’t usually do this, 3) I sometimes do this, 4) I usually do this and 5) I always or almost always do this. The data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test,  one way Anova and independent T. Results: Four hundred forthy nine students participated in this study. 52.5%  (236) were freshmen (first year) and 47.5 percent (213) were seniors. The results indicated that memory strategy was used more than the other stratgies. First year university students used more vocabulary learning strategies including social, selective attention, taking notes and dictionary strategies compared to the last year students (p less than 0.05), and this difference was statiscally significant, but the difference in the use of autonomy and study style preferences was not significant. Conclusion: It is sensible to suggest that English language teachers reconsider their teaching styles and consider different techniques to promote vocabulary learning. Base on the results of this study it could be concluded that the use of new teaching thechnologies and familiarzing the students with the learning strategis could aid the ease of learning a second language for the medical sciences students.