Which is the More Effective Memorizing Method,

Prepared Mnemonics, or Self-made Mnemonics?

Graduation Thesis

Presented to

the Faculty of the Department of

English Language and Literature

Notre Dame Seishin University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirement for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

by

Rio Yamamoto

2016

Table of Contents

Abstract

Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 The Importance of Learning Vocabulary 5

1.3 Memory 6

1.3.1 The Forgetting Curve 10

1.4 Mnemonics 10

1.5 Previous research 12

1.6 The Research Questions 13

1.7 Summary 14

Chapter Two: The Experiment

2.1 Introduction 15

2.2 Method 15

2.2.1 Introduction 15

2.2.2 Aim 15

2.2.3 Method 16

2.3 Procedure 19

2.4 Results 20

2.4.1 Results 20

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2.4.2 Delay Data 21

2.4.3 The Result of the Delay Test 22

2.4.4 The Interview Data 26

2.5 Summary 27

Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1Introduction 29

3.2 Discussion 29

3.1.1 Summary of the Experiment 29

3.2.2 Answering the Research Questions 32 3.3.4 The Interview Data 33

3.3 Limitation of the Experiment 36

3.4 Conclusion 36

References

Appendix

2

Abstract

When we learn a new language, we need to memorize the vocabulary as a

first step. Then we could express our feelings and opinions in detail, and have deep

relationships with people if we know more vocabulary. To do this we need to

memorize some vocabulary. While there are many memorizing methods, this thesis

discusses one of the methods named mnemonics and tests them in an experiment.

Chapter One introduces various types of memory and types of mnemonic. We

saw what memory types are best when we learn new language vocabulary and when

we want to store the vocabulary longer. In the last part, we looked at the

effectiveness of previous mnemonic research.

In Chapter Two, there are explanations of the mnemonic experiment: the aim,

the subjects, the test instruments, the word selection and the procedure. The results

of the two kinds of tests and the delay tests were presented. We compare these

results from test’s scores and the terms subjects took the delay tests.

In Chapter Three, we discussed the results of the tests and the questionnaire

in detail. Also the research questionnaire and the interview data were presented. The

experiment found that mnemonics were effective for all subjects from the results of

the first tests, but the delay tests showed much of the learning had been lost.

However, the mnemonic method was a useful way of comparing forgetting curve

from the average scores on tests.

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Chapter One: Introduction

1.1 Introduction

“Knowledge is power” ―― by Francis Bacon

Bacon was an English philosopher in the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. His

proverb may be the most famous proverb related to knowledge.

Learning and gaining knowledge make our field broader and make our minds

richer. It is said that “approximately 360-400 million people speak English as their

first language, moreover if we include English speakers as their second language,

there are 470 million to over 1 billion English speakers in the world. On the other

hand, there are 123 million Japanese speakers in the world (Wikipedia, List of

countries by English-speaking population, 2015). This means if we have some

English ability, we will be able to communicate with over 1 billion English speakers in

the world. People grow up in different countries so they know different cultures which

we don’t know. If we can communicate with them, we would have chances to learn

more knowledge and exchange information with each other.

There are many methods of learning English. One of them is memorizing.

Memorizing is often said to be the first step for learning English. We learn words first

and learn about grammar using them. It is said that, “native adult English speakers

use about 20.000 words to 35,000 words in daily life. Japanese students learn 1,500

words in junior high school, and 1,500 more words in high school” (We Co., Ltd, 英語

を話すのに最低限、必要な語彙数は？ , 2014. 04. 02). even If you remembered all

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these words, there are more about 17,000 to 32,000 words left you do not know so

we must ask . “How can we memorize these large amounts of English vocabulary

efficiently?” This thesis will discuss one memorizing method called mnemonics, to

demonstrate its effectiveness and introduce the method.

1.2 The Importance of Learning Vocabulary

Native English speakers use about 20,000 to 35,000 words in daily life but

actually, English students “could do easy daily conversation in English if [we] knew

about 2,000 English words already” (We Co., Ltd, 2014). However, when we want to

have deeper conversation and get to know English speakers, or when we want to

use our English in business, only 2,000 English words would be too low to function

effectively. There are many English words Japanese people tend to misuse which

lead to misunderstandings because of a lack of vocabulary. It is possible to express

our feelings and give color to our conversation if we know a lot of English

vocabulary. Therefore, knowing plenty of expressions and improving our vocabulary

skill is important if we use English in business or when we want to have a deeper

conversation and relationship. We may experience that although we have studied

hard and tried to memorize English words, we could not remember them right away.

We might have had a problem in our learning style.

There are several kinds of memory. When we want to memorize English words

for a long period and be able to use or understand them whenever we want, we need

to store words and expressions in our long-term memory. If we use an incorrect

method of memorizing, Only a few words or even none would be in our memory one

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month later. So we need to find effective ways to learn words, one way is through

mnemonics.

The research in this thesis will find out if mnemonics are a useful way of

memorizing things as a long-term memory. Before we do this, let us look at the

various memory types first before looking at what mnemonics are.

1.3 Memory

”Memory is our ability to encode, store, retain and recall. The classification is

the differences between storage time and capacity: Sensory memory, Short-term

memory and Long-term memory” (Mastin, 2010).

Sensory memory is the shortest term of memory. It is the ability to retain

impressions of sensory information through five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste

and touch. It can be said a feeling in a moment like we feel heat when we touch a

cup with hot coffee in it.

Short-term memory is often called working memory. This type of memory lasts

only about three to twenty seconds, its capacity is limited, it is said that it can

temporarily hold up to seven pieces of independent information (Mastin, 2010). We

most often forget a phone number right after we dialed it.

Long-term memory is different from the others. Sensory memory and working

memory are limited in capacity and time so memories are easy to forget. On the

other hand, Long-term memory lasts for a long period and stores all kinds of

unlimited information often for your life. Long-term memories are stored in schema

which are a kind of network of ideas on the topic. They are all related and activate

each other when forming memories. Schema has the ability to store information,

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organize, connect and find them easily. There are more abilities as well like creating

new schema for new ideas. Thus, schema helps us to recall things due to these

connections. Schemas are developed based on the information provided by life

experiences, and are stored as episodic memories.

Our brains use schema as a short cut to more easily navigate our lives. For

example, when a child sees a dog in a park for the first time, he or she recognizes

what a dog looks like. He or she create a schema while he or she saw the dog was

furry, had four legs, ears, a tail and heard how it barks. He or she creates a schema

through the experience and his or her parent teaches the child it is a dog as well.

When he or she saw a cat, he or she will search their stored schemas and try to fit it

with one schema he or she has already encountered. However, if he or she doesn’t

have a cat’s schema, he or she will create a new schema by recognizing how it cries,

moves and looks different from dog, adding information like a cat climbs a tree.

Additionally his or her parent teaches the child it is a cat not a dog. Next time the

child see a dog or a cat, he or she can recognize what it is by recalling this schema.

We have thousands of schemas like a dog, a cat, a chair, a table, a station, a man, a

woman, and memories of events in our brain.

Long-term memory can be classified to more types: Explicit memory,

Declarative memory, Episodic memory, Semantic memory, Implicit memory and

Procedural memory.

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Explicit memory is also known as declarative memory which stores memories of

facts and events. In addition, these memory types are divided further into Semantic

memory and Episodic memory. Episodic memory is the memory of events or

expressions we have had. They are individual, historical and connected with specific

information (time and place). For example, it might be a quarrel with our friend, a

success at work, school events, a house we used to live in our childhood and so on.

Semantic memory is a memory of our own real experiences. It includes words,

grammar and all kinds of pieces of discreet knowledge. Episodic memory and

Semantic memory seem similar. They have a relationship. Episodic memory

maintains Semantic memory, and includes for example, remembering talking with a

native speaker at a coffee shop (episodic memory) helps the memorizing of English

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words (Semantic memory). One of the differences between these two types of

memory is episodic memory could be changed but not semantic memory. We forget

what happened at high school event between things we remembered and these may

differ from how our high school friend remembered the same events. Semantic

memory, words and grammar, cannot be easily changed.

Procedural memory is a part of implicit memory. Implicit memory uses past

experiences to remember things without thinking about them, in other words, skills,

for example, how to play a piano, how to drive a car, how to swim and so on.

These memory types suggest memorizing for long-term recall is the best way

if you want to improve English vocabulary.

1.3.1 The Forgetting Curve

It is well known in psychology that we forget what we learn some of the time.

Here is a figure of the typical forgetting curve. Ebbinghaus (1885) was a man who

found the forgetting curve. He said “We forget 50% of what we learn within one hour

of learning it unless we put it into practice or are continuously supported and

provided with access to ‘knowledge’”.

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Figure 1: A typical forgetting curve

im-mideately

20 mins later

1 hour later

90 mins later

1 day later 2 days later 6 days later 31 days later

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% 100%

58%

44%

36%33%

28%25%

21%

1.4 Mnemonics

Mnemonics help us to remember things by connecting something to what we

want to remember. Mnemonics can be separated into types. There are some of

them.

Music mnemonics are usually used as advertising on radio and TV, which are

music to help customers to remember their products. Advertisers have discovered

sales of the product had been increased with sufficient repetition of commercials and

melody. Music mnemonics work best with long lists. For example, many people have

remembered the alphabet using the ABC song.

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Name mnemonics are often used when we want to memorize the name of a

person, city’s name and so on. For example, the first letter of each word can be

used to make name mnemonics. For example, we can make MEL’s Ball are in

UR(your) NEt, when we want to remember, Melbourne.

Image mnemonics are constructed in the form of a picture and helps us to

recall information when we need it. These images might be mental or sketched on a

paper. For example, this may occur when we meet someone new at a party named

Belle Greenhill. We can make an image mnemonic visualizing a yellow bell on a

green hill to help us remember her name.

It is necessary to put information in long-term memory if we want to memorize

things forever. One of the methods is to memorizing over and over many times to

give your brain an impression. Mnemonics help to remember things by making

connection between new information which we want to remember and long-term

memory we already have like music, words, images. It could help memorize English

words efficiently. Word mnemonics are like a play on words, which uses two words,

one is a word we already know and the other is a word we want to remember. These

must be connected with the sound or pronunciation. For example, when we want to

remember ‘casa’ which is Spanish and the meaning is house, we could connect

umbrella in Japanese which pronounces ‘casa’. We can make a word mnemonic

using these words and make an image or a house with an umbrella for a roof. This is

the example, ‘ 傘を忘れた（ casa wo ie ni wasureta ） ’ , which means I forgot an

umbrella in my house.

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1.5 Previous Research

According to Katayama’s research (2008) mnemonics work well when we

want to memorize. She compared the memorizing method, normal method which

subjects usually use and image mnemonics. Her results from the experiment shows

mnemonics work better than the usual method. Subjects got one and half points

higher scores on the experiment.

She gave an experiment using Test A and test B. There were forty subjects

and they were asked to do the two tests. Test A asked them to memorize fifteen

Korean words using their own method. They took each memorizing style as they do

in usual like writing and reading. She used the Korean language because it was also

unfamiliar language for subjects. Test B asked them to memorize fifteen Korean

words which were different from words of test A. They asked to memorize them

using image mnemonics and words mnemonics. Those mnemonics were already

made by Katayama.

The effect of who makes the mnemonic was very clear. Subjects’ average

score on Test A was 8.10 points, on the other hand, they got 14.14 points as an

average score on test B. This is a big effect for the effectiveness for mnemonics. She

gave surprise tests two months later to same subjects, used same Korean words

and same tests style. However, the average scores were very low on each test.

Subjects took 0.08 point average score on test A, and 0.64 average score on test B.

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Test B’s average score was still higher than test A, but the terms between former

test and delay test was very big so both scores were very low.

1.6 The Research Questions

The above suggests we know something about mnemonic effect comparing

usual memorizing method like writing and reading from Katayama’s research (2008),

but we do not know much about whether students learn better from being given self-

made mnemonics versus them being made for them. Moreover, she gave surprise

tests two months later then we knew the mnemonic effect lasted longer but the effect

decreased a lot. We don't know much about how the mnemonics effects changes

over time.

Also, the above suggests we know something about memory depth of

processing. According to Craik and Lockhart (1975), the Depth of processing effect

whereby people remember better which contained deep processing allows people to

learn faster and better. Following this if subjects will use deeper thinking when they

create their own mnemonic so it is expected mnemonic made for them would get a

lower score.

Therefore, Research Question 1 was set to know the mnemonic effect

between made for them and from ones they make themselves. Question 2 was set to

know how the mnemonic effect changes after days passed in each terms.

1. Can subjects learn words better if they use mnemonic made for them or

from ones they make themselves?

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2. What is the effect of a delay test on their learning?

1.7 Summary

In this chapter, we looked at various memory types, typical forgetting curve by

Hermann Ebbinghaus, mnemonics and the importance of having a large English

vocabulary. We will present an experiment about memorizing method, mnemonics,

to help memorize English words in Chapter Two.

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Chapter Two: The Experiment

2.1 Introduction

Chapter One introduced the importance of learning English vocabulary,

memory types, mnemonic types and the research question. In this chapter, we are

going to see the method of mnemonic experiment, the procedure and the result.

2.2 Method

2.2.1 Introduction

In this section we will look the information about the aim, subjects, word

selection, test instruments, how mnemonics were made in this experiment,

procedure, delay data by surprise test, these two test’s results and interview

questions.

2.2.2 Aim

The aim of this experiment is to find out how image mnemonics and word

mnemonics work and how effective they are when memorizing vocabulary. There

were two kinds of tests, one was prepared mnemonics and the other was self-made

mnemonics. This allows us to see not only the effect pf mnemonics but also which

mnemonic type is better.

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2.2.3 Method

Subjects

There were 50 first to fourth-year female students, 18 to 22 years old from

Notre Dame Seishin University and Kawasaki Fukushi University. They major in

English language and literature and food nutrition. All of the subjects agreed to

participate voluntarily. They have studied English (as a foreign language) for at least

seven years and they did not know the words which selected, the image mnemonic

and word mnemonic from the interview questions.

 

Test instruments

Two groups and two different kind of tests were set for the experiment in order

to show both word levels in the tests were the same. All of the Spanish words were

supposed to be the equally difficult so as to make the results equal. Twenty Spanish

words were used in total and half of them were used on Test A and a’. The other ten

words were used on Test B and b’. Here is a list of the twenty Spanish words.

The subjects were asked to do two tests which were set as pairs, group A did

Test A and Test b, group B did  test A’ and test B’ in a rotated design. Each group’s

subjects memorized the mnemonics they were given on tests a and B’ in seven

minutes and did their first test. On the second tests, Tests A’ and b, the subjects

made image and sound mnemonics by themselves, after they

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Table 1: Twenty Spanish words which were used in the experiment

Group A Group B

Spanish Japanese Spanish Japanese

ojo 目 pelo 髪

pie 足 cara 顔

tomar 飲む oso 熊

mirar 見る cama ベッド

corto 短い tener 持つ

rico お金持ち poner 置く

silla イス ir 行く

caballo 馬 alegre 幸せ

dar もらう malo 悪い

barato 安い alto 高い

finished, they memorized them in seven minutes and did the second test. There was

no time restriction for making self-made mnemonics. After learning, they were asked

to write down each of the different ten Spanish words in Japanese on these tests.

The test images are in the appendix.

17

Word selection

In this experiment, Spanish words were used to get clear result of the effect

when one of the mnemonic memorizing methods was used because they were

unknown to the subjects. It was better not to choose English words because subjects

have learned English for seven years or more and their English ability was not the

same so it was difficult to select words which all the subjects did not know. Neither

French, German and Chinese were chosen because these language classes are

taught in this university.

How mnemonics were made in this experiment

There are many mnemonics types as was mentioned in Chapter One. Image

and word mnemonics were used in this experiment. For example, one Spanish word

casa means house in English. The pronunciation sounds like umbrella in Japanese

so we can use two pictures umbrella and house, as image mnemonic. Next, any

word mnemonic which must be connected to the image mnemonic can be made

using the word ‘casa’ in Japanese. The researcher made one or few sentences

including these words. For example, I forgot an umbrella in my house.

(casawowasureta).

Table 2: An example of the word mnemonic

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家に casa(傘)を忘れる

2.3 Procedure

The procedure is showed in Table 3.

Table 3: The procedure of the experiment

Group

A

Test a Test b

Memorize 10 Spanish words using

image and word prepared mnemonics

in seven minutes. The words on Test A are used the same words on test A’ to set the word's level

the same.

Do the translation test.

They were asked to write

down 10 Spanish words

meanings in Japanese.

Memorize 10 Spanish words using image and word self-made mnemonics in seven minutes. Note: The memorizing time,

seven minutes, is not included the time

making the mnemonics.

Do the translation test.

They were asked to write

down 10 Spanish words

meanings in Japanese.

Group B

Test b' Test a'

Memorize 10 Spanish words using

image and word prepared mnemonics

in seven minutes. The words on test B’ are used the same words on Test B to set the word's level

the same.

Do the translation test.

They were asked to write

down 10 Spanish words

meanings in Japanese.

Memorize 10 Spanish words using image and word self-made mnemonics in seven minutes. Note: The memorizing time,

seven minutes, is not included the time

making the mnemonics.

Do the translation test.

They were asked to write

down 10 Spanish words

meanings in Japanese.

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2.4 Results

2.4.1 Results

There was a big effect after subjects memorized first tests. There was not

much difference between mnemonics and self-made mnemonics. Both showed

much effective by this method. Average score were very high right after they

memorized by using mnemonics. Group A’s average scores were 9.56 for Test A

and 9.81 for test b. Group B’s average scores were 9.599 for test A’ and 9.762 for

test b’. Here is the table on the next page.

Table 4: The average scores from the first tests

Group A’saverage

score

Test ASelf-made mnemonics

Test BPrepared

mnemonics9.56 9.81

Group B’saverage

score

Test A'Self-made mnemonics

Test B'Prepared

mnemonics9.599 9.762

These data show little difference between the groups.

2.4.2 Delay Data

Delay test were set after seven to forty days later for every subject. This test

was to find out how mnemonics work after time passed and which way would be

more effective. The same twenty Spanish words were used. Delay tests set at four

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different times: seven to ten days later, eleven to twelve days later, twenty-one to

thirty days later and thirty-one to forty days later. This was done to know how

memories of mnemonic decay differently over different terms. Delay test were not set

before one week passed because it would be too early to recognize the mnemonic

effect. In group A, there were four subjects tested delay test over seven days later

but less than ten days, nine subjects tested delay test over eleven days later but less

than twenty days, six subjects tested delay test over twenty-one days later but less

than thirty days and six subjects tested delay test over thirty-one days later but less

than forty days. Group B, there were three subjects tested over seven days later but

less than ten days, nine subjects tested delay test over eleven days later but less

than twenty days, six subjects tested delay test over twenty-one days but less than

thirty days and seven subjects tested delay test over thirty-one days later but less

than forty days. This is summarized in Table 5.

Table 5 : The numbers of subjects for each group and each time

Group A B A B A B A B

Terms of

delay test

7 ~ 10 days

later

11 ~ 20 days

later

21 ~ 30 days

later31 ~40 days later

Number of

subjects4 3 9 9 6 6 6 7

All subjects had not know there were delay tests in advance to prevent of the

influence for the delay data.

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2.4.3 The Results of the Delay Test

It was expected that self-made mnemonics ’ effects are better, but the result

was bit different from the delay test. As it is mentioned, the delay test was set in

different terms: seven to ten days later, eleven to twenty days later, twenty-one to

thirty days later and thirty-one to forty days later. There are two results to report. First

is, there are different results between these terms. Secondly, the mnemonic effect

depended on people which means mnemonics were not effective for everyone to

memorize vocabulary. On the other hand, there are many people who felt it is very

easy method to memorize vocabulary because it is fun and they do not feel it is

learning, studying or practicing.

Here are the numerical values of the result of the delay test. There are five of

them: total average score on the delay tests between the prepared mnemonics and

self-made mnemonics and total average score on the delay tests by each four

different terms. Scores, Group A and Group B, are put together on one table to

compare.

Table 6: The average scores from the delay tests

Delay tests

test a

(Prepared

mnemonics )

test b

(Self-made mnemonics )

Group A’s

average scores5.38 5.50

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Delay tests

test b'

(Prepared

mnemonics )

test a'

(Self-made mnemonics )

Group B’s

average scores 4.52 4.48

Table 6 shows the total average scores of each group and each time. As we

can see, there are not big differences comparing scores between each group, which

means the words selection succeeded. Spanish words level was almost the same for

subjects. One more thing we notice is that there are not big differences between Test

A and test b, test B’ and test a’, which means there are not different effects if we use

prepared mnemonics or self-made mnemonics by comparing only average scores.

We focus on each subject’s scores later.

These are the tables for each term are on the next page.

Table 6: The delay tests’ average scores (Group A) in each term

Test A (Prepared mnemonic)

Test B (Self-made mnemonic)

7～10 days later 9.25 9.75

11 ～ 20 days later 5.11 5.22

21～30 days later 2.66 2.5

31～40 days later 2.00 1.83

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Figure 2: The data for group A’s forgetting curve

immediately 7～ 10 days later 11～ 20 days later 21～ 30 days later 31～ 40 days later0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

test a (Researchers mnemonic) test b (Own mnemonic)

Table 7: The delay tests’ average scores (Group B) for each term

Test B’ (Researchers mnemonic)

Test A’ (Own mnemonic)

7～10 days later 9.33 9.66

11 ～ 20 days later

5.33 5.55

21～30 days later 2.83 2.83

31～40 days later 4.42 1.57

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Figure 3: The data for group B’s forgetting curve

immediately 7～ 10 days later 11～ 20 days later 21～ 30 days later ３１～ 40 days later

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

test b' (Researcher's mnemonic) test a' (Own mnemonic)

We will take a look these tables one by one. The results of the delay test

which is seven to ten days later are shown in Table 7. Each group’s average scores

are very high - over nine points, which means both conditions for the mnemonics

were very effective for most subjects. There were no subjects who got low scores

even it was over seven days. Every subject got over eight points to ten points on

each test.

Secondly, we will look at the result of the delay test which was eleven to

twenty days later. Each group’s average scores were almost five points even after 21

days. A few things were found. Every subject did well on the first delay test, but the

second tests’ scores varied. There are subjects who did well, who got high average

scores and others who could not remember at all. One of the subjects got nine points

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on each test, on the other hand, some of them got around three to six points and a

few subjects got zero points. One of the subjects got one point from the word which

she learned from the prepared mnemonics and eight points from the words which

she made by her self-made mnemonics. So there was a lot of variation

Thirdly, we will look at the result of the delay test which is twenty-one to thirty

days later. Each group’s average scores was two points. There were no subjects

who got over five points. There are subjects who did better on words which they

memorized by self-made mnemonics , who did better on words which they

memorized by the prepared mnemonics and both did almost the same.

Finally, we will look at the delay test which was thirty-one to forty days later.

The average scores of the prepared mnemonics were 2.00 points for group A and

4.43 points for group B. Average scores for self-made mnemonics were 1.83 points

for group A and 1.57 points for group B. The average scores of the prepared

mnemonics on group B was outstanding because of the influence of four of the

subjects. Two of them got six points and the other two subjects got seven points.

One subject from group A did well on both tests, she got eight points on the prepared

mnemonics and seven points on her self-made mnemonics words. Most subjects got

one to two points on each test.

2.4.4 Interview data

In order to know why we got these results from the experiment, some

interview questions were prepared. These were as follows.

1. Did you feel comfortable using mnemonics when you memorize vocabulary?

2. Which method was better to learn for you? Why?

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3. What is your usual method when you memorize vocabulary?

4. Which is better to learn between your usual method and mnemonic when you

memorize vocabulary?

We will discuss the responses to these questions in Chapter Three.

2.5 Summary

We looked at the experiment in this chapter. Fifty subjects were selected for

the experiment and were separated into two groups to show the words level were the

same difficulty. They were given ten Spanish words for each method with two kinds

of methods of making mnemonics, one is the method to memorize ten Spanish

words with the prepared and image mnemonics, and the other method is to

memorize ten Spanish words with self-made mnemonics. This was to find out if there

are differences between mnemonics which were created by someone and

mnemonics created by themselves. Two tests were also set at different delay terms.

First one was right after all memorizing with these two methods, and the other was

the delay test so days or weeks later. The later test was arranged in four different

terms to know how long mnemonics influence takes longer than usual memorizing

methods.

It was shown that all of the words were the same level of difficulty because

there were no big differences between average scores on Group A and B. As we

saw the average score from the former tests, it was really effective way to memorize

vocabulary for every subject. There were no apparent differences between the

prepared mnemonics way or making self-made mnemonics. Differences were found

on the delay tests, but still mnemonics were a good influence. Differences on the

27

delay tests will be discussed in detail in Chapter Three. It was effective for every

subject right after they memorized by using mnemonics, however, it depended on

the subjects on the delay tests.

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Chapter Three: Discussion

3.1 Introduction

Chapter Two presented the experiment method and the results with graphs

and the exact data. These results and the data will be discussed in detail with

answers from the interview data in this chapter.

3.2 Discussion

3.2.1 Summary of the Experiment

We will look through the summary of two experiments test times and the

results here. One was the learning post-test and the other was a delay test. There

were two conditions in the experiment. Subjects were asked to memorize Spanish

words by using ‘self-made mnemonics ’ and ‘the prepared mnemonics ’. The

mnemonic types were word and image mnemonics. Subjects were separated into

two groups to see if the words selection level were all the same. Group A memorized

twenty Spanish words in two ways, ten Spanish words with the prepared mnemonics

and image mnemonics which was in Test A and the other ten Spanish words with the

subjects’ own word and image mnemonics which was in Test b. Group B also

memorized twenty Spanish words in two ways in a crossed-design, ten Spanish

words with the prepared mnemonics and image mnemonics which was in test B’ and

29

the other ten Spanish words with their word and image mnemonics which was in

Test a’. Each words in Test A and Test a’, and Test B and Test B’ were same. The

words were the same but the method to memorize was different so that we can see if

all the Spanish words level were the same. They were asked to make these

mnemonics using words and images which are related to each of the ten Spanish

words. Therefore, twenty Spanish words were selected randomly. The results of

each group’ data from the initial and delay tests were close, so the word level must

have been almost the same. The results of the training and initial test of the

experiment were very good. Every subject got high points on both tests. This result

shows that memorizing using mnemonics was effective for every subject. They felt it

is easy way to memorize vocabulary, however, some of them had trouble making

self-made mnemonics.

There were many different and interesting results on the delay test. All

subjects got a high score on the learning post-test, however, scores varied on the

delay test. Some of them got a score as high as the first test, some of them got

middle-range scores and some of them got low score. There are also some subjects

who could not answer any Spanish word meanings. This depended on the words but

also the individuals. Subjects tend to get high scores if they took the delay test

shortly after the learning, and those who took the delay tests later, tended to get low

scores. The delay experiment was set in four kinds of terms: seven to ten days later,

eleven to twenty days later, twenty-one to thirty days later and thirty-one to forty days

later. The results of the delay test were not the same as we typically find with the

‘forgetting curve’. It was higher than the score for all tests. This showed mnemonics

were effective for storing memories of words though not for every subject but after

30

some time that learning was lost. There were subjects who felt it was difficult to learn

with mnemonics as a memorizing method.

Figure 4: Comparing the Forgetting Curve and Test A

immediately 7～ 10 days later 11～ 20 days later 21～ 30 days later 31～ 40 days later0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

forgetting curve test a (Resercher's mnemonic)

test b (Own mnemonic)

Figure 5: Comparing the Forgetting Curve and Test B

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immediately 7～ 10 days later

11～ 20 days later

21～ 30 days later

31～ 40 days later

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

forgetting curve test b' (Resercher's mnemonic)

test a' (Own mnemonic)

3.2.2 Answering the research questions

The research questions for this thesis are as follows.

1. Can subjects learn more words using mnemonics made for them, or their

own?

2. Which way can store memory well after days past, using researcher’s

mnemonic or own mnemonic?

We have discussed the results from both the initial test and the delay test

above. The important points from these tests were how well mnemonics works well

for memorizing vocabulary, and how effective they were after days passed and

which way would be better researcher’s mnemonic or their own mnemonic.

Let us look at the answers for each question in turn.

1. Can subjects learn more words using mnemonics made for them, or their own?

32

The result of the first test showed mnemonics worked well for memorizing

vocabulary. Every subject got very high scores and many of them felt it was easy

way to memorize vocabulary. Secondly, the mnemonic effect lasted longer than the

normal ‘forgetting curve’ from the result of the average score on delay test. However,

some subjects could not remember any words and some subjects got a high score

as the former experiment. There were subjects who got a higher score and much

lower score than average score of the result on the delay test. Therefore,

mnemonics were very effective to memorize new vocabulary for most of the

subjects.

2. Which way can store memory well after days past, using researcher’s mnemonic

or own mnemonic?

It was expected that the score on self-made mnemonics would be higher,

however not all the subjects took higher scores on own mnemonic and the results

varied considerably by subject. There were not only subjects who got a high score

with words once they memorized by self-made mnemonics but also subjects who got

a low score with words once they memorized self-made mnemonics. Therefore, it

was found that it cannot be said their own mnemonic works better.

3.3.3 Interview data

We will now look at how the subjects felt about mnemonics from some

interview data. The following are the interview question and the answers.

33

1. Did you feel comfortable using mnemonics when you memorize vocabulary?

Almost all the subjects answered it was easy and fun when they memorize new

vocabulary using mnemonics. It seemed they enjoyed the memorizing method using

pictures and similar words. Some of them answered it was like a game. There was a

subject who felt more motivated when she used mnemonics than the way she

memorized vocabulary in her usual way. However, there were few subjects who felt

uncomfortable about mnemonics because they were not good at making word

mnemonic and it took a lot of time. They also felt it was difficult to draw pictures

when they made image mnemonics and took a lot of time as well.

Most subjects felt mnemonics were easy to memorize new vocabulary and

enjoyed it because image mnemonics and word mnemonics were developing long

term memories they already know, and they could memorize new words by

connecting these long term memories and new vocabulary. Image mnemonics had

an impact on the subjects because they were so easy to remember but drawing

pictures was uncomfortable for some subjects to make image mnemonics and it was

difficult making word mnemonic and took a lot of time though every subject got a

high score on former experiment. Subjects who answered making mnemonics was

uncomfortable felt difficulty during the procedure of making image mnemonics and

word mnemonics.

2. Which method was better to learn for you? Why?

34

This question is about the method: one is the method using self-made

mnemonics and the other is the method using mnemonics made by someone else.

Some answered using their mnemonic was better because taking time to

make self-made mnemonics helped make them remember new words naturally while

having fun and thus this support Craik and Lockhart’s Deep Processing ideas. These

subjects did not feel uncomfortable making image and word mnemonics. On the

other hand, there were subjects who answered using mnemonics made by someone

was better because it is just fast to memorize using mnemonics which already

completed. Some of them who answered given mnemonics were better felt it was too

difficult to make mnemonics by themselves that is why. There were also subjects

that they felt both methods would be fine and easy memorizing methods.

It was not expected that making mnemonics would be such a difficult

procedure for some of the subjects even after they heard how to make them.

Subjects who felt difficulty with image mnemonics all had the same complex drawing

pictures. Subjects who felt difficulty about word mnemonics answered they did not

really feel Spanish words were familiar so it was hard and took a lot of time so they

felt other way was better.

3. What is their usual method when they memorize vocabulary?

Their usual memorizing styles were writing, reading, using flash cards and

both writing and pronouncing the word at the same time. This question was about

their usual memorizing style when they learn English vocabulary. Some of them

were not memorizing English words anymore so their style refers to methods they

35

used to use in high school. Every subject learned mnemonic style memorizing

method first time on this experiment.

4. Which is better to learn between your usual method and mnemonic when you

memorize vocabulary?

Many subjects who answered mnemonics were a better memorizing method

and they wanted to try it from next time. There were four subjects who answered

their usual method was better because mnemonic took a lot of time and it was

difficult to compose them.

3.3 Limitation

There were some limitations for this experiment. One was that the 50 subjects

were all girls, the subjects’ age were all nineteen to twenty-two years old, they were

all university students. If there had been more subjects, and both mixed boys and

girls and adults had been also included, there could have been more interesting

results.

One of the aims of the experiment was to compare which mnemonic method

was better between making one’s own or made by someone. Although we have seen

the mnemonic effects, it would have been interesting to see the comparison directly

between the mnemonics and the subjects’ usual memorizing method.

36

3.4 Conclusion

Almost all the subjects felt that mnemonics were a very easy way to

remember new vocabulary. Moreover, many of them felt the effect lasted longer than

their usual memorizing method. However, there were subjects who felt

uncomfortable making self-made mnemonics because they took a lot of time or they

were not good at drawing pictures. But this extra effort probably made them

remember better. On the other hand, some subjects could have memorized new

vocabulary well by the procedure while they were making and thinking of self-made

mnemonics.

Therefore, many subjects felt mnemonics were an effective way to memorize,

but it really depended on whether each subject felt their own mnemonic, someone’s

mnemonic or their usual memorizing way was better. This was shown in the results

from the delay test. It was expected that most of the subjects would get a higher

score on the delay test that they memorized using self-made mnemonics than

mnemonics made by someone else. This is because of the procedure made subjects

think and try to connect new vocabulary to long-term memory, a picture and word.

However, the scores of their mnemonic words and someone’s mnemonic words

varied by subjects from the results of the delay test, though almost every subject felt

the mnemonic effect.

Many subjects had a good impression about mnemonics and many of them

said that they want to try the method when they face difficult new words to

remember. It can be said through this experiment that mnemonics can have a

positive effect on memorizing vocabulary in short time and the effect lasts a long

time for many people. Although making their own mnemonic might be uncomfortable

for people who are not good at drawing pictures or who do not like thinking and

37

making new sentences as memorizing, it was still better one of the memorizing

method than usual memorizing method.

38

References

Books and articles

Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal behavior, 11, 671-684.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levels-of-processing_effect.

Accessed October 20th, 2015

Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1962). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology. New York: Dover. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Ebbinghaus. Accessed November 14th

Katayama, M. 2008. How much can we learn by using images when learning new

words?. Notre Dame University.

Webpages

Fukuma. R. We Co. Ltd., 英語を話すのに最低限必要な語彙数は？.

http://www.we-j.jp/blog/vocabulary.html. Accessed July 15, 2015

Mastin, L. Human memory webpage, Types of Memory, 2010 The Human Memory,

Types of Memory.

http://www.human-memory.net/index.html. Accessed August 10th

Wikipedia, List of countries by English-speaking population.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population .

Accessed July 15, 2015

We Co., Ltd, 英語を話すのに最低限、必要な語彙数は？ , 2014. 04. 02

39

AppendixThe tests for this thesis.

TEST a

・ojo = 目　 　 ojo お嬢様の目

・pie = 足　 　 pie パイに足をつっこむ

・tomar = 飲む　 　tomar トマトジュースを飲む

・mirar = 見る　 　mirar ミラーを見る

・corto = 短い　 　短い corto コート

・rico = お金持ち 　rico りこちゃんはお金持ち

・silla = イス 白木のイス

・caballo=　馬 かばのような馬

・dar= もらう ダーリンにもらう

2

・barato=安い ba ナナ ra―メン トマトが安

い！

TEST b’

・pelo = 髪

髪をぺロっと舐める

・cara = 顔

カラカラの顔

・oso = 熊 動きのおそい熊

・cama = ベッド ベッドにカマがある

3

・tener = 持つ テナーギターを持つ

・poner = 置く ポンッと置く

・ir = 行く イルカを見に行く

・alegre = 幸せ あれぐれー 幸せだったらなぁ

・malo = 悪い まろは悪い

4

・alto = 高い あるところに高いビル

5