This study investigated the effects of multisensory memory strategies of pairing visual and aural learning strategies of aural lexical advance organizers (LAO) and read-alouds on 146 Korean high school students learning the meaning and pronunciation of 18 unfamiliar English words. In this quasi-experimental design, the control group learned the words on a single mode of written LAO and silent reading as opposed to two treatment groups of aural LAO and silent reading, and of aural LAO and read-alouds, respectively. The effects were tested three times via pre-, post-(immediately after learning), and delayed (30 days later) tests. The immediate and long-term effects were examined by detecting the differences across the three groups in post- and delayed-tests by one-way ANOVA, and the retention of effects was examined by paired t-tests in each group across the three tests. The results indicated that pairing aural LAO and read-aloud strategies was most effective in learning and retention of both vocabulary meaning and pronunciation.
This study compares the results of a survey of vocabulary learning strategy (VLS) use and perceived helpfulness by Korean university students to the taxonomy of VLS first presented by Schmitt. VLS suggested by previous research by the author and changes in technology since the original taxonomy was compiled were added to Schmitt’s list. The survey was administered online to 135 university students in Korea, primarily of Korean nationality. The results show that reported VLS use is up across the board, and the perceived helpfulness of the majority of VLS is up as well. Technological VLS are widely used for meaning discovery, but used moderately for vocabulary consolidation. Trends in the results are discussed, which suggest that learners rely on a range of VLS rather than a few core VLS. Technological VLS are common among Korean university students, though most still prefer traditional methods. Ramifications for vocabulary teaching and strategy instruction are also discussed, as well as suggestions for further research.
Lexical knowledge is an important predictor of second language learning. The present study focuses on aspects of lexical knowledge of Korean elementary (6'h grade) and middle school learners (9'h grade) in connection to learni ng strategies, that is, with regard to vocabulary learning and by investigating the learners' preferred English medium of interest. The learners were asked to complete questionnaires for information on vocabu lary learni ng strategies, and were tested with receptive and prod uctive vocabulalY levels test to assess their vocabulary knowledge. One-way ANOVA was conducted to note differences between the different vocabulary learning strategy groups, and multiple regression was employed to select predictors of learners' receptive and vocabulary knowledge. While the learners did not favor public education (school lessons), private lessons indicated to be the dominant means of learning English among the 6th graders with larger vocabu lalY sizes; the use of the vocabu lary workbook indicated to be a useful resource for the 9th graders. Although movies were popularly viewed by most of the learners, it was tile learners who had been reading books in Engli sh that seemed t.o have obtained larger vocabulary sizes. The findings provide guidelines for vocabulalY instruction in Korean elementary and middle school contexts .
For second or foreign language learners, lexical acquisition can be a learning burden which takes a learner"s enormous effort and time. In recent years there has been a growing interest in L2 vocabulary learning strategies (VLS), but few have explored Korean EFL college students" use of VLS. Through a qualitative analysis of both written self-reports and interviews conducted with four advanced students, this study found that their lexical approaches were similar in terms of ""macro-strategies,"" whereas being dissimilar in light of ""micro-strategies."" Namely, there were both similarities and differences in the ways and means that they mobilize in learning English vocabulary. At the same time, the four students revealed some patterns of strategy use that were different from those reported on other learning contexts. Another noteworthy finding was that all four tried to produce the learned words in appropriate contexts. Some pedagogical implications are suggested for teaching practice.