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Language Learning Journal - Winter 2002, No.
26
The use
of Linkword Language computer courses in a classroom situation: a
case study at Rugby School
Steffen Sommer - Head of Modern Languages, Rugby School
(U.K.)
Michael Gruneberg - Dept. of Psychology,
University of Wales
"This paper presents a case study of the implementation
of a Linkword© Language Course - French - to a class of
13-year-old pupils at Rugby school. The class was selected
because they were the weakest at French, performed poorly in
examinations, and had problems in terms of motivation and enjoyment
of French. The result of introducing a computer version of
Linkword© French as a complementary learning aid to
the standard text and classroom work was that
after seven months, following the end-of-year examination, a quarter
of the class was promoted to the class above, a move that could not
have been expected otherwise. The results of a questionnaire
revealed that the great majority of pupils found the course easier
and faster than conventional methods of learning. Rugby
School, as a result of the study, has continued the use of the
Linkword courses, partly at the request of the
pupils."
INTRODUCTION
"In recent
years, there has been a growing interest in the value of enhancing
foreign vocabulary acquistion by means of the keyword or Linkword©
method. This method involves using mnemonic images to link an
English word to another English word which sounds like the
corresponding foreign word. An example might be as
follows: The Spanish for COW is VACA. The learner is
asked to picture a COW with a VACUUM cleaner, cleaning a
field. Although the use of such images seems bizarre to those
who know the target language, and who therefore cannot experience
for themselves the effectiveness of this technique in enhancing
retention, with only a handful of studies failing to find an effect
(see e.g. Coady and Huckin, 1997, for a review).
One of the
first studies on the keyword method was reported by Raugh and
Atkinson (1975), who showed that for a list of 60 Spanish words,
retention was 28% for those not using the keyword method and 88%
when it was used. Since then the keyword method has been found
to be superior to the context method of vocabulary learning, i.e.
where the meaning of words is inferred from the context (McDaniel
and Pressly, 1984). Other studies, (Pressly et al.,
1981, 1993) have found the keyword method to be superior to a number
of control conditions such as no learning instruction or repetition.
"
"...The keyword method has
been shown to facilitate learning of foreign vocabulary in
11-year-old children (Merry, 1980), in the elderly (Gruneberg and
Pascoe, 1996) and in the learning disabled (Gruneberg, Sykes and
Gillen, 1996)."
"...Gruneberg and Jacobs (1991) report a study of 12 to 13
year-olds in a 'B' stream of pupils learning Spanish in a secondary
school in Swansea. Following a term of teaching using the
Linkword Spanish course, pupils were given an end-of-term
test. This showed that where the Linkword course was used,
vocabulary scores averaged 69%, with only 2 children out of 16
getting less than 50%. Where Linkword© was not used, the
average score was 24%, with only one child getting over 50%.
Approximately 200 words had been covered after one
term."
SUMMARY
"In summary, the present case study appears to add to the
evidence that there is a complementary role in foreign language
learning for an approach based on the keyword method. It is
probably the most extensive study to date on the value of courses
which use the keyword method, integrated with basic grammar, in a
classroom situation. It particularly illustrates the value of
this approach for less gifted children, but research (see e.g.
Gruneberg and Jacobs, 1991: Kasper, 1993) shows that able
individuals of all ages can also benefit...This is true both for
performance (Milton and Meara, 1998) and motivation (Stables and
Wikeley, 1999). The present findings appear to indicate
considerable motivational and performance advantages in
complementing standard classroom courses with the Linkword©
approach."
[please note: The full article is 6 pages long and can be
purchased from The Language Learning Journal at http://www.languagelearn.co.uk/journals.htm]
Click
here to read what the Press has to say about
Linkword
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"At least sixty studies
have now been published showing the effectiveness of this technique
in enhancing
retention"
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LINKWORD©
