The role of visual cues in the keyword method: Assessing variations of the mnemonic approach in L2 vocabulary learning

It is well documented in the cognitive literature that visual stimuli create strong memory connections (Shapiro & Waters, 2005). In L2 research, mnemonic devices have been found to be a relevant factor in the development of vocabulary learning (Sagarra & Alba, 2006). However, the extent to which visual cues are needed in the association of an L2 item with an acoustic link has not been explored. Thus, the present study sought to compare two different versions of the Keyword Method (KM) (Atkinson & Raugh, 1975) in an EFL setting and to assess their effectiveness when compared to a group using Rote Learning. To this end, 37 EFL learners from a private university majoring in Journalism were divided into three groups (KM+visual cues, KM with no visual cues, and Rote Learning) and were exposed to the three different approaches to learn and retain 15 unknown target words. A Kruskal-Wallis test ran with immediate and delayed outcome measures (passive recall and passive recognition) showed that there were no significant differences in the three groups. However, a trend was seen where the version of the KM with no visual cues consistently had higher scores than the other version of the KM. Furthermore, it was found that rote rehearsal may be an effective vocabulary learning tool when the pedagogical goal is to learn and retain a discrete number of lexical items.