Channels, Fall 2017

Page 38 Nanda • The L1 Context Embedding Method words, one via the Keyword Method and the other via the L1 Context Embedding Method. The presentation order was counterbalanced: each group was presented with the same words, but Group A was taught the first half with the L1 Context Embedding Method and the second half with the Keyword Method, while Group B was taught with the two methods in reverse order. Material Word lists Each vocabulary set contained 10 words which were selected according to three criteria. First, words were selected based on the likelihood that elementary Spanish students would not already be familiar with them. A Frequency Dictionary of Spanish: Core Vocabulary for Learners (Davies, 2006) was consulted to determine word frequency, and the 1,300 most frequent words were excluded. The most common vocabulary word among the target vocabulary in the study was ciego (blind), followed by escoger (to choose) and bandera (flag). Second, words were chosen which were suitable to both methods. The L1 Context Embedding Method requires target vocabulary that can be tied together in a story context, so the words used were restricted due to this requirement. The Keyword Method is well known to be most efficient with concrete or highly imageable target vocabulary, also restricting possible words. Finally, words were selected in order to equalize the words in each set. The study required set one of words 1-10 to be as comparable as possible to set two of words 11-20. Each set of words consisted of seven nouns, two adjectives, and one verb. Appendix A lists the final target vocabulary chosen. The appropriateness and parity of these words were checked and affirmed by a fellow student of Spanish and Linguistics. Story contexts Stories in English were created as a vehicle to present the target words 1-10 in context for Group A, and words 11-20 for Group B. Zi-Gang (2015) notes that “Stories can provide learners with a network of associations of the target words… stories provide contextual clues to language learners” (p. 256). Prince (2012) agrees and states that the story context “acts as an aid to recall” (p. 110). In this study anecdotes were selected and created so that they would grab the participants’ attention and maintain their interest, while also being short enough to present in 10 minutes. Words 1-10 were embedded in a famous anecdote about the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo, while words 11-20 were in an anecdote of the origin of the idiom, “to turn a blind eye.” In order to remain true to Zi-Gang’s original study, I attempted to format the texts of the anecdotes in the same way. The Spanish target words were embedded in a series of English sentences with their English translations provided in brackets next to them (Zi-Gang, 2015). Each text was then transferred to presentation slides along with a few images relating to the anecdote. The story texts are included in Appendix B.