The application of mnemonic strategies to improve EFL students’ aptitude for vocabulary
Abstract
Background and Purpose: Using mnemonic strategies is one of the useful ways to help students memorize and retrieve vocabulary effectively in learning English. This paper mainly focuses on promoting mnemonic strategies to EFL students’ vocabulary learning. Though some research in this field has been conducted, there have been hardly any specific studies on using mnemonic strategies to improve vocabulary learning ability for English major pre-intermediate level students at a university of foreign languages in Vietnam. The study aims to investigate the benefit of mnemonic strategies in vocabulary learning for EFL students.
Methodology: This study was designed as quasi-experimental research, employing a mixed-method approach to gather data. 90 respondents from a university in the centre of Vietnam were recruited in the study using a simple random sampling method. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire of 20 items, a vocabulary test and semi-structured interview questions were the research instruments used in the study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used for analyzing the quantitative data. The responses from semi-structured interviews were analysed in theme.
Findings: The results of the study showed that both teacher-provided mnemonic strategies and student-generated strategies could help students memorize vocabulary effectively. However, students who were creative and methodical in applying their own mnemonic strategies performed better at memorizing vocabulary. Also, those students who applied mnemonic strategies had better results in the vocabulary tests than the others.
Contributions: The study concludes that mnemonic strategies including spatial grouping, keyword method, the use of rhyme, story method, acronym, etc. to memorize and retrieve vocabulary has potential to be applied with EFL adult students as a new vocabulary teaching method. The research is expected to contribute to university administrators, EFL instructors, as well as university students to encourage and apply mnemonic strategies for improving EFL students’ vocabulary learning.
Keywords: Mnemonic strategies, vocabulary learning, pre-intermediate level, student, English.
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