The Effect of Mnemonic Vocabulary Instruction on Reading Comprehension of Students

Abstract

The present article was an investigation of mnemonic vocabulary teaching to improve reading comprehension in the EFL classrooms. A major problem with the most of the past researches was that they paid no or little attention to the effects of using mnemonic strategies to improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how key word mnemonic vocabulary teaching can improve reading comprehension of the students. To this end, 360 third grade senior high school students from 6 senior high schools of Zanjan were selected through multistage cluster random sampling method and based on Cambridge placement test (2010), 345 students proved to be upper intermediate. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effects of a mnemonic vocabulary intervention on reading comprehension. In this article there were one control group (A, n=115), and two experimental groups (B, n=115; C, n=115) all of which were male and there were selected randomly by the researchers. During one month in four weeks, every week in two thirty-minute session, group B received direct vocabulary instruction and group C received key word mnemonic instruction. The quantitative component of this article was comprised of the Unit Cloze test. In order to test the effects of Mnemonic Vocabulary Teaching on reading comprehension, the covariance analysis was employed and the results demonstrated that by eliminating the covariance factor of the pre-test, mnemonic vocabulary instruction improved the reading comprehension of the students. The use of keyword mnemonics as a means to differentiate instruction is an educational implication that can assist teachers seeking better student achievement outcomes.

The Effect of Mnemonic Keyword Strategy Instruction on Vocabulary Retention of Students with Learning Disabilities

“…Meaning that, the explicit instruction of keyword strategy contributes to activating the students' previous knowledge and retention of newly encountered words. The results of the present study in line with many prior research works that confirmed that positive effect of keyword strategy instruction on vocabulary learning and retention (Whitescarver, 2018;Fasih, Izadpanah, & Shahnavaz, 2018;Al-Lahham, 2016;Khalafi & Oroji, 2016). The results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the post-test of vocabulary achievement, and this proves the positive effect of keyword strategy instruction on vocabulary learning.…”

“…A number of research (Whitescarver, 2018;Fasih, Izadpanah, & Shahnavaz, 2018;Al-Lahham, 2016;Khalafi & Oroji, 2016) have been conducted to investigate the effect of mnemonic keyword strategy on vocabulary learning and retention among ESL/EFL learners. Whitescarver (2018) studies the effectiveness of mnemonic devices on vocabulary acquisition and retention of high school students with learning disabilities.…”

EFL Learners’ Cognition Process: A Case Study of Two ASD Learners with Different IQ Levels

“…Regarding this, previous studies also echoed similar results. They also asserted that the use of contextual clues geared to learners' comprehension (Fasih et al, 2018;Kong, 2015;Ma, 2014;Roberts & Kelly, 1985;Song, 2019). In the previous studies, they only look at the comprehension outcomes such as reading comprehension scores, and ability.…”

Investigating the Impact of Mnemonic-based Instruction on Saudi University Students’ Attitudes Towards Vocabulary Learning

“…Verbal memory supplements are about adjusting initials and creating rhymes but visual memory supplements are used with visual images like placement method, chaining method, word method of suspension and keyword method (Senemoğlu, 1997). Teachers may develop mnemonic techniques or have students come up with their own (Fasih et al, 2018). Mnemonic strategies had been used in different branches and in instructing various types of information proving their effectiveness in the findings of many studies.…”