Vocabulary learning strategies for Second or Foreign Language (SFL) Students of Missionary-run Colleges in Bangladesh

One of the crucial challenges that learners face for processing second or foreign language (SFL) learning is learning vocabulary. Vocabulary is recognized as vital to language use in which insufficient vocabulary knowledge of the learners led to difficulties a SFL learning. Thus, in the case of learning the vocabulary in a SFL, students need to be educated with vocabulary learning strategies. Investigation for learning vocabulary and its connection to reading has become significant in the field of research in SFL acquisition. Since reading requires precise and spontaneous word recognition skills, learners need to be equipped with sufficient vocabulary knowledge to read fluently. Yet, for many SFL learners, reading is a 'suffocating slow process' (Anderson, 1991). One of the causes or often experienced by the students is that they don’t have enough vocabulary knowledge. As a result, they tend to surrender to understand the semantics of the text or skip reading the word, sentence and even the paragraph due to the unfamiliar words. These circumstances propose that some learners may not have enough skills to handle the unfamiliar words.