The Keyword Method and the English vocabulary learning

Abstract

Languages are made up of words and all the words constitute vocabulary. The emergence of new words never stops, and we need to get familiarized with them, as well as with their meanings. Vocabulary is considered one of the most important elements of communication. It allows speakers to exchange information, opinions; therefore, to understand each other. In this sense, this research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the Keyword Method and a traditional teaching methodology on English vocabulary learning of undergraduate students at Universidad Técnica de Ambato. The study was based on the quasi-experimental approach, and it involved 22 students from the first semester "B", who were distributed into two groups: control and experimental. Both groups learned the same lexis that consisted of 25 words taken from the book Top Notch 1. The experimental group used the Keyword Method to learn the list of vocabulary proposed; while the control group used a traditional methodology. The research instruments involved a pre-test and a post-test applied to both groups after and before the experiment. There was also a survey that was applied to the experimental group to collect information about their perception of the KWM. All this process was held on 6 sessions through the Zoom App, and the groups were distributed using Breakout Rooms. Session 1 involved the pre-test and lasted 30 minutes. Session 2, 3, 4, and 5 belonged to the experiment; each session lasted 1 hour. The last session lasted 30 minutes and it corresponded to the post-test. Results were analyzed using the T-student test, which showed that there is a significant improvement of vocabulary on students that used the Keyword Method