University of Konstanz

Department of Linguistics

Experiments and Methods in Language Acquisition Research

Teaching how to learn: keyword mnemonics to improve the recall of English vocabulary in
Spanish-speaking learners of ESL

Prof. Dr. Theodoros Marinis

Prof. Dr. Anamaria Bentea

August 15th, 2021

Submitted by:

Manuel Fernando Ríos Sanchez

24 Street 11-55 Armenia-Colombia

manuel-fernando.rios-sanchez@uni-konstanz.de

Matriculation number:1094440

2nd Semester

Master in Multilingualism
 Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Previous Literature 4

Research question 6

Hypothesis 7

Methodology 7

Participants 7

Experimental tasks 8

References 11

Appendix 13

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Introduction

The teaching and learning of a foreign language is a challenging path for teachers and students.
This path is full of obstacles and difficulties, for this reason, it is important to know a variety of
strategies to overcome such difficulties. It is said that one of the main characteristics of a good
learner is having a good memory. However: is memory the key for success in a foreing language?
How can we get a good memory for language learning? Which strategies can the teacher use to
help students to retain words and structures?. These questions are common among students and
teachers and this research takes the memory strategy of keyword mnemonics to exemplify how
teachers and students can design mental clues to improve the recall of English vocabulary of
spanish-speaking learners.

In an article of Applied Cognitive Psychology, it was analyzed how actors can memorize their
lines. They demonstrated that actors remember content better if they elaborate it in their minds,
which means that thinking about verbal material is usually a much better strategy for
remembering it than specifically trying to memorize it (Noice, 1992). Language and creativity are
naturally connected, language is an expression of creativity and creativity can be expressed by
language. Ott, Buttler, Blake and Ball (1973) reported that even with no given special instructions
when asked to learn a foreign language, people often use their native language mindsets
combined with imagery or other mnemonic aids to store and recall new words. This suggests that
the keyword method is an explicit technique from the ones commonly employed by students.

According to Heerema (2021) a keyword mnemonic is a mental strategy which encodes

information to easily memorize and recall it. This approach has often been researched and has
been shown to be an effective way to teach foreign language vocabulary as well as many other
subjects and types of information. . For instance if you want to learn the Spanish word for bread:
pan. You can think of a leaf of bread heating in a frying pan. This visual image puts a context and
a link between your previous knowledge and your new lexicon. This strategy involves two steps.
First, a keyword that sounds somewhat similar must be chosen. Second, a mental image of the
keyword must be connected to the new word or piece of information. (Heerema, 2021)

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This strategy not only helps with the semantic aspect of the lexicon, but also with the
phonological aspect of the words. According to Gathercole (2016), the ability to hold novel
phonological forms in working memory is especially important to the formation of new words
during the early stages of language acquisition for both native and foreign language learning.
New word learning is mediated through accessing lexical phonological representations of close
neighbours rather than relying on brief encoding of phonological forms in working memory.

The goal of foreign-language vocabulary learning is long-term retention of the vocabulary items’
meanings so that learners can comprehend the vocabulary when it is encountered later. (McDaniel
& Miyatsu, 2019). The keyword mnemonic is effective in vocabulary learning because it
constructs a meaningful associative elaboration between the keyword embedded in the
vocabulary item and the item’s meaning (Levin & Levin, 1990).

Previous Literature

Mnemonic strategies have been broadly studied to set their correct use and function, here some
previous research related to this topic will be explained. Oxford (1990) points out that mnemonic
strategies are the methods of linking new information to existing knowledge. Schimitt (1997)
divides mnemonic strategies into nine types: illustration method, semantic association method,
experience association method, semantic chart, keywords method, grouping, reading aloud
repeatedly, image imagination and semantic network. Wang (2020) cites that the memory of the
words by association is to find the commonness between the new words and the words that have
been learned in the way of association under the guidance of the teachers and to deepen the
memory of the new words from sound, form, and meaning. This will not only help the students
learn new words, but also review the old words at the same time so that students can remember
words more firmly.

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To define keyword mnemonic, Atkinson (1975) set it as a memory-enhancing technique that
incorporates identification of a keyword and utilization of imagery to create a strong retrieval
route. In foreign language vocabulary learning, learners identify (or are given) a familiar word
(the keyword) within a to-be-learned foreign word and create an interactive image between the
key-word and the English translation of the foreign word.

In the past, important research has been made to determine the effectiveness of using keyword
mnemonics for learning new vocabulary. One of the first approaches to keyword mnemonic was
proposed by Atkinson (1975). He created 120 keywords in English to learn Russian nouns. 52
native speakers of English who have never studied Russian were exposed to the keywords and
after 3 days most of them reached 72% accuracy and recall. The words were presented in blocks
of 10 words, the Russian word was presented on a screen and the keyword was presented in
brackets to the left and the English meaning to the right. The participants had to think in an
imagery or a phrase to combine the three words in 10 seconds. This method was used for 4 days
until they got 120 Russian words.

In laboratory experiments made in 1984, McDaniel & Pressley used the keyword mnemonic
strategy to teach 61 obscure English words to 69 psychology students at the University of Notre
Dame, they contrasted the keyword mnemonic with the context method. These words were
divided into booklets of 8 and 5 words and the participants had 20 seconds to read each obscure
word and its sentences. In the keyword method the words were given with a phonetically related
English word and a short definition.. In the context method, the obscure words were
accompanied with 3 sentences in which the word is used, no definition was given. After
reviewing the 61 words they had unlimited time to write down the words that they could
remember. They proved that keywords are more effective in teaching new vocabulary items
rather than presenting the items in a semantic context (McDaniel & Pressley, 1984)

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More recently, McDaniel & Miyatsu (2019) performed an experiment using keyword mnemonics
and retrieval practice with 40 Lithuanian-English pairs. They used four conditions to check which
one was the most successful at the time of recalling vocabulary, the first one was called SSS
(study-study-study) condition, where participants simply studied the list of 40 pairs three times in
succession. In the STT (study-test-test) condition, after studying the list once, participants
retrieved the English meanings given the Lithuanian words during the second and third rounds of
the learning phase (keyword absent, retrieval practice present). In the KwKwKw
(keyword-keyword-keyword) condition, participants were given instructions about the keyword
mnemonic and studied the pairs with suggested keywords and images three times (keyword
present, retrieval practice absent). Finally, in the KwTT (keyword-test-test) condition, the
participants studied the list once using suggested keywords and imagery, and then they engaged
in retrieval practice during the second and the third rounds. They found that keyword-mediated
retrieval, which was observed sometimes even in no-keyword instructed conditions, was shown
to be more effective than unmediated retrieval. Their findings suggested that incorporating
effective encoding techniques prior to retrieval practice could augment the effectiveness of
retrieval practice, at least for vocabulary learning.

Research question

Based on the previous research conducted in different languages but taking English as a native
language. It opens the way to implement this strategy in the other way around, taking native
speakers of Spanish who are learning English as a Second Language (ESL). This conducts a
different perspective to reinforce or to debate about this method. The aim of this study is to
determine to what extent the use of associative mnemonics could improve the recall of English
vocabulary in Spanish-speaking learners of ESL. 50 Colombian native speakers of Spanish will
be tested using keywords to learn new vocabulary in English language. They will be students of
English in an initial level (A1-CEFR) from the University La Gran Colombia. Keyword
mnemonic flashcards with images and phrases in Spanish and English will be used to determine
the effectiveness of this strategy.

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Hypothesis

The study will be designed for Spanish speaking learners of ESL in order to test their memory
and recall abilities at the time of learning new vocabulary in English. Given this, the speed and
accuracy in the recall of English vocabulary will be the dependent variables, affected by the use
of keyword mnemonics at the time of recalling new vocabulary in English language.
Additionally, the experiment can follow potential confounding variables, such as: improvement in
the production and lexicon recall in the L2, increase in the memory skills in daily situations and
the ability of linking abstract and concrete ideas. All of these leads to the following hypothesis:

H0: The use of associative mnemonics does not affect the recall of English words in students of
ESL

H1: The use of mnemonic association technique improves the speed and accuracy recall of
English vocabulary for students of ESL.

Methodology

Participants

This study will be implemented with 50 Colombian native speakers of Spanish, students of
English in an initial level (A1-CEFR), they will be tested using a placement English test (OPT) to
verify their level, they study different degrees at the University La Gran Colombia in the city of
Armenia, the will be between 18 to 40 years olds, half males and half females. None of the
participants could speak another foreign language. None of them will have a language delay or
impairment. They must have normal vision or corrected-to-normal. All of them studied English at
a basic level at elementary and high school but with not a high degree of fluency and vocabulary.

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Experimental tasks
The first test will be a placement English level test, we will be using the Oxford Placement Test
(OPT) which evaluates the listening and reading comprehension of the participants, giving
immediate results. We will conduct the test to a big number of participants until we get a sample
of 50 students at A1 level. Then we will conduct a simple memory test in Spanish to identify a
common pattern among the students, we will present 20 images with nouns in Spanish, the
participants will have 10 minutes to memorize the words and after 10 minutes of break, they will
be asked say aloud the words that they can remember, we will select the participants with an
average memory scores of at least 50% of accurate answers and no more than 70%. Depending on
the results, we will set a homogenous group with similar English level and similar memory skills.

For the experiment, the participants will be exposed to a variety of printed flashcards which can
include nouns, verbs and adjectives in English within an A2 level, those words will be taken from
the A2 Key vocabulary list from the University of Cambridge (2020) to check the ones that they
do not know and to choose 20 unknown words by each participant. False and true cognates
between both languages will not be taken into account for this experiment.

When we have 50 participants, they will be divided in 3 groups and will be exposed to three
conditions:

First group-First Condition: The first research group will be exposed to the first condition and
they will have a learning phase with at least 20 associative mnemonics by 1 minute each. The
keyword mnemonics will be flashcards that use short sentences in Spanish to associate the
meaning and spelling of the word in English (figure 1). Those words will be nouns, adjectives
and verbs.

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 Figure 1. Flashcards with keyword mnemonics
Second group-Second condition: The second research group will have 2 examples of keyword
mnemonics used in the first condition by 1m each.Then, they will have 20 more cards with just
the picture and the translation SPA-ENG (figure 2). Then, they must create associations by
themselves and write them down in the card of the picture in 3m each.

TRUCK: CAMIÓN

GUILTY-CULPABLE
Figure 2. Flashcards with a picture and translation SPA-ENG to create associations

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Third group-third condition: The third group will be the control group and they will have 20
cards with just the picture and the translation SPA-ENG with no associations (figure 3). They will
have 1 minute to memorize each card.

TRUCK: CAMIÓN GUILTY-CULPABLE

Figure 3. Flashcards with a picture and translation SPA-ENG

Finally, 30 minutes of no-activity after the flashcards practice, we will compare the memory and
recall of the three groups using the same 20 pictures with no text. They will describe the image
in English by answering the next question: what do you see in this picture?. This will be an oral
answer. One week later, we are going to test the memory and recall of these 20 words again to
perceive changes in the long term memory. We will analyze differences and similarities among
the three conditions to perceive which one was the most successful. Our prediction is that the
second condition will be the one in which the participants can retain more words in the short and
long term.

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 References

Atkinson, R. (1975). Mnemotechnics in second-language learning. In American Psychologist

30(8) (pp. 821-828).

Gathercole, S. (2019). Nonword repetition and word learning: The nature of the relationship. In

Applied Psycholinguistics (pp. 513-543).

Heerema, E. (2021, 07 12). Keyword Mnemonics to Improve Ability to Memorize Facts. Very

Well Health.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/keyword-mnemonics-to-improve-ability-to-memorize-fa

cts-98699

Levin, M., & Levin, J. (1990). Scientific mnemonomies: Methods for maximizing more than

memory. American Educational Research Journal, 301-321.

McDaniel, M., & Miyatsu, T. (2019). Adding the keyword mnemonic to retrieval practice: A

potent combination for foreign language vocabulary learning? Memory & Cognition, 47,

1328–1343. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-019-00936-2

McDaniel, M., & Pressly, M. (1984). Putting the keyword mnemonic in context. Journal of

Educational Psychology,, 598.

Noice, H. (1992). Elaborative memory strategies of professional actors. Applied Cognitive

Psychology, 6, 417-427.

Ott, Buttler, Blake, & Ball. (1973). The effect of interactive-image elaboration in the acquisition

of foreing language vocabulary. In Language learning (pp. 197-206).

Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What every teacher should know. Newbury

House.

University of Cambridge. (2020). A2 key vocabulary list.

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/506886-a2-key-2020-vocabulary-list.pdf

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Wang, Y. (2020, December). A Survey of the Use of English Vocabulary Mnemonic Strategies by

Non-English Majors. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10, 1656-1661,.

http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1012.21

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 Appendix

Examples of keyword mnemonics that will be used in the experiment:

Recall: Easy:

Intento recordar y me callan los Y si, el inglés es muy fácil

pensamientos
So yes, English is very easy
I try to recall and the thoughts shut me up
Eye:
Device:
¡Ayy! me duele un ojo
Debí decirte que el vicepresidente tiene un
Auch! my eye is hurting
dispositivo
Hurry:
I should have told you that the vice-president
has a device Harry está de afán

Amazing: Harry is in a hurry

La selva amazónica es asombrosa Scared:

The Amazon forest is amazing La izquierda me da miedo

Blanket: Left side scares me out

Las cobijas son blancas See:

The blankets are white Si ves?

Carrot: Can you see?

Las zanahorias están en el carro Silver:

The carrots are in the car Silvester Stalone usa anillos de plata

Cloud: Silvester Stalone uses silver rings

Claudia está en las nubes Son:

Claudia is the clouds Los hijos son una bendición

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The sons are a blessing Wrong:

Stay: Roncar está mal

¡Esté ahi! Snore is wrong

Stay there Star:

Umbrella: La estrella está allá

La sombrilla está en los hombros de ella The star is there

The umbrella is in her shoulders Outside:

Wait: El auto está afuera al salir

¡Güey espera! When you go, the car is out

Bro, wait!

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