Effectiveness of Mnemonic Strategies in Teaching Frequency Vocabulary: A Case Study of English for Further Study in University Course for Mathayom 5 Students at Bunyawat Witthayalai School, Lampang

Abstract

This Independent Study “Effectiveness of Mnemonic Strategies in Teaching Frequency Vocabulary: A Case Study of English for Further Study in University Course for Mathayom 5 Students at Bunyawat Witthayalai School, Lampang is intended to examine the students’ academic improvement in terms of vocabulary acquisition after the implementation of mnemonic strategies. Subjects of the study were 52 students in Matthayom 5 room 2 at Bunyawat Witthayalai School, Lampang province. Upon the process of data collection, vocabulary (pre-post) tests, a 5-likert-scale questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview were respectively employed as instruments. To analyze the collected data, means, standard deviation and the t-test scores from the pre-tests and post-tests, the questionnaires were examined by the program SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science for Windows) while the findings from the interview were scrutinized by Content Analysis. Based on the research results, mnemonic strategies have proven to be effective as they evidently boost vocabulary learning at a level of statistical significance of 0.71. It was also found that the mnemonic strategies could meet the students’ satisfaction in high level as they facilitate the students not only in terms of English vocabulary, but also in other subject matters. In addition, the students reflect positive attitudes towards learning the mnemonic, the implementation process, and the applicability of strategies at a very high level as well. However, in spite of some limitations of the implementation; time constraint and the sophistication of English vocabulary, the students recognized that mnemonic activate not only their lexical memory, but also their enthusiasms in learning. They also positively described how their lexical capacity had improved after they learned the strategies. Additionally, they had agreed upon the suitable applicability of the techniques in other courses. In conclusion, the mnemonic heightens students’ vocabulary competence in English and learners can also apply and integrate these learning strategies with other subject areas.