The Effects of the Keyword Method on Japanese Students’ English Vocabulary Acquisition

This study was conducted to determine the effects of the keyword method on Japanese students’ ESL vocabulary acquisition. The intermediate and advanced ESL Japanese students, who were randomly divided into the experimental and the control group, memorized forty-five English words in forty minutes. Pre-test, post-test1: and delayed post-test were administered in order to measure their acquisition and retention of the words. The keyword method did hot dramatically improve the acquisition of target words for Japanese students. However, the keyword method was effective for those who had immediate necessity to increase their vocabulary. In addition, it appeared that some keywords were more effective than the others for retention of words.

Thesis Author: Howell, Hideko

Year Completed: 1990

Thesis Chair: C. Ray Graham