The Effect of Mnemonic Keyword Techniques Instruction on Vocabulary Achievement and vocabulary Size of Iranian EFL Learners (original) (raw)
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The Study of Learning and Retention of Vocabulary Through Keyword Method among Iranian EFL Learners
Vocabulary learning has been one of the most important concerns of Iranian college students, especially those who educate in majors other than English-based ones. They are reported to frustrate when they face with vocabulary items to be learned, since they have trouble retaini ng them. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of keyword method, one type of linguistic mnemonic device, on learning and retention of vo cabulary in Iranian non-English college students. For the purpose of this investiga tion, 40 male and female non-English college students were selected using Oxford Placement Test (Allan, 2004), and divided into two groups, one experimental and the other control group. A pre-test was designed and administered to both groups, and then a ten-session treatment was initiated, teaching th e control group by word list memorization and the experimental group through keyword met hod. Immediately after the treatment phase, they received a post-test, called “immediate recall post-test”, to show to what extent they have learned those words. Two weeks later, another post-test, called “delayed recall post-test” was give n to the participants to assess their degree of vocabulary retention. The results demonstrated th at keyword method affected participants’ vocabulary learning and retention significantly.
The Effect of Keyword Method on Vocabulary Retension of Senior High School EFL Learners in Iran
Journal of Education and Practice, 2016
This study aimed at investigating the effect of keyword method, as one of the mnemonic strategies, on vocabulary retention of Iranian senior high school EFL learners. Following a quasi-experimental design, the study used thirty eight (n=38) female senior high school students in grade four from two intact classes at a public high school. The students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was instructed through the keyword method and the control group learned vocabulary through the traditional method. To analyze the data, paired-samples t-test and independent samples t-tests were run. It was found that students in the experimental group significantly outperformed the students in the control group in vocabulary retention by keyword method. Also, a significant difference was found between the performance of the keyword group and traditional group in delay recall posttest. Overall, this study illustrated that the use of keyword method can large...
Impact of mnemonic keyword method on EFL pupils' long- term retention of new vocabulary items
2016
Vocabulary knowledge is an essential aspect of language learning and teaching along with the development of language teaching methodologies and approaches. Perhaps, the greatest tool that can be given to students not only in their education but also in their life is an extended and rich vocabulary. This research reports a quasi-experimental investigation about the effect of the keyword mnemonic on EFL pupils' long-term retention of new vocabulary items. Two pre-existing groups of first year middle school pupils are randomly assigned as being the experimental group and the control group. The groups are made up of thirty pupils each; participants in both groups were pre-tested in the first session of the treatment to measure their word knowledge before under taking the treatment. After that, while the control group received no particular teaching, the experimental group received five sessions of vocabulary teaching through the use of the mnemonic keyword method. A post-test similar to the pre-test has been done in due time for both groups. The findings, at last, demonstr ated considerable improvement in recalling the words provided during the treatment period where it has been observed that the MKM had not only the expected effect but helped the learners in the acquisition and memorization of other new words. The results of the study reveal that the research hypothesis is highly supported.
The Effect of Mnemonic Key Word Method on Vocabulary Learning and Long Term Retention
Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 2014
Most of the studies on the key word method of second/foreign language vocabulary learning have been based on the evidence from laboratory experiments and have primarily involved the use of English key words to learn the vocabularies of other languages. Furthermore, comparatively quite limited number of such studies is done in authentic classroom contexts. The present study inquired into the effect of using mnemonic key word method of vocabulary instruction on the learning and retention of vocabulary over long term in a normal EFL classroom context.Fifty5 th grade primary school students were selected and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received vocabulary instruction using mnemonic key word method and the control group received classic memorization based instruction of the same vocabulary items. The two groups took three posttests a day, two weeks, and a month after the last treatment session. A MANOVA analysis was run on the data and the results indicated that subjects in the key word group outperformed the memorization group at a significant level in both their learning and retention of the newly learnt vocabularies. The results of the study underscore the efficacy of the establishment of mental links and images for the vocabulary learning and retention of novice and beginning level EFL learners. It further implies that mnemonic devices like key word method should be given prompt attention by both EFL material developers and practitioners as a potentially effective strategy for vocabulary teaching, learning and long term retention at the early stages of second or foreign language development.
The effect of keyword and context methods on vocabulary retention of Iranian EFL learners
This study intended to investigate the comparative effectiveness of keyword and context method on immediate and delayed vocabulary retention of EFL learners. It also compared the rate of forgetting in the keyword and context groups. With a quasi experimental design, 40 learners from two intact classes in a language teaching institute in Khorramabad, Iran, were randomly assigned to the keyword and context group. The keyword group received the keyword strategy training, while the context group focused on learning vocabulary in their real context. The result indicated that learners in the keyword group recalled more vocabulary immediately after training and one week later. The results also indicated the rate of forgetting is more in the context group than in the keyword group.
After some years, vocabulary research has once again found its fundamental position in pedagogical studies as an inseparable component of language instruction. However, many studies conducted have focused more on vocabulary learning strategies rather than explicit instruction of these techniques. The present study, though, seeks to find out whether teaching vocabulary learning strategies is effective in enhancing the knowledge of EFL learners. Two vocabulary tests of Lex30 and Vocabulary Size Test were administered to 51 intermediate Iranian EFL learners. By employing a mixed method approach, five distinct semi-structured interview sessions were held. The results of independent samples t-tests revealed the effectiveness of teaching vocabulary learning strategies as the experimental group outperformed the control group. Moreover, the analysis of transcribed data suggested that learners showed positive attitude toward instruction of vocabulary learning strategies. Finally, some pedagogical implications for teaching vocabulary are offered.
International Journal of Linguistics, 2013
This study aimed to study the effects of G5 mnemonic technique on Iranian English language learners' retention of vocabulary items. To do so, 40 Iranian English language learners' at intermediate level were randomly selected for the study. They were randomly divided into one experimental group and one control group. In order to get assurance as to the homogeneity of the learners they were pre-tested and a same test was repeated as post-test after 9 weeks. Both groups were taught about 360 vocabulary items. These vocabulary items were taught with mnemonic technique (G5) to the experimental group while control group did not receive any technique. Detailed analysis revealed that, there was a significant difference among experimental and control groups in retention of vocabulary items.
International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature, 2013
This study aims to find out the various strategies used in learning vocabularies among Iranian EFL learners in three different proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced) in Zanjan province. The vocabulary learning strategies which have been used in this research include determination, social, memory, cognitive, and meta-cognitive which follow Schmitt's taxonomy. 110 students were randomly selected from two language institutes in Zanjan. Schmitt's (1997) Vocabulary Learning Strategies' questionnaire was administered to the learners with three proficiency levels. Then, descriptive statistics and Anova were utilized to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics revealed that the participants of the study regardless of their proficiency levels were generally medium strategy users who used all these strategies moderately except for the determination strategies that were used in high level. In addition, basic learners used all different types of strategies more frequently than intermediate and advanced learners. By comparing two other proficiency levels, advanced learners used determination strategies and meta-cognitive strategies more frequently than intermediate learners, while social, memory and cognitive strategies were used more frequently by Intermediates. In order to perceive if the results were statistically significant, Anova for between group mean differences was conducted. It revealed the fact that there is no significant difference among learners with different proficiency levels in application of determination and meta-cognitive strategies while the learners with lower proficiency level used social, memory and cognitive strategies more frequently, that is, these three strategies were used more frequently by basic, intermediate and advanced learners respectively.
Since vocabulary is core element in learning foreign/second languages this study tries to explore the tactics and strategies applied by Iranian EFL learners with high and low vocabulary knowledge in learning vocabulary. Thus, the finding may pave the way for researchers, curriculum designers and instructors to find out effective strategies in learning vocabulary as well as those tactics and strategies which need to be applied more to gain more achievement. To do so, the researcher selected 20 out of 238 EFL learners (10 learners with high vocabulary knowledge and 10 learners with low vocabulary knowledge) from Semnam province based on purposive sampling to participate in this qualitative study. They were asked to record what they really do daily in learning and retaining vocabulary through journal writing. After transcribing the collected data, the results were descriptively analyzed. The results showed that students who had high background vocabulary knowledge applied more vocabulary learning strategies in the process of language learning and consequently vocabulary learning in comparison with those who has low background vocabulary knowledge. Furthermore, memory strategy was found as the most frequently used strategy by both groups while social strategy was found as the least frequently use one. However, some remarkable differences were identified in frequency of strategies applied by two groups. For example, using monolingual dictionaries were remarkably used by students with high vocabulary knowledge while it was among the strategies hardly used by students with low vocabulary knowledge.
2020
Vocabulary knowledge is a basis for language education and use as well as for achieving higher order language skills. It is also regarded as the key component of language education. It is believed that knowledge of Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLSs) can be an effective device for understanding vocabulary. In this quasi-experimental study, the participants were divided into experimental and control groups. The Quick Placement Test was used to select sixty Iranian female students. Two strategy types (rote and mnemonic) were employed in the experimental groups and learners were instructed thirty vocabulary items from Barron''s 1100 Essential Words during three sessions. These strategies were not instructed for the control group. Finally, an immediate and a delayed posttest were conducted. The collected data were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially through ANCOVA. It was found out that the group which used mnemonic strategy, rather than rote-based learning strategy,...