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KEY WORDS APPLICATION STRATEGY AS ONE OF THE MOST
INDISPENSABLE STRATEGIES UNDERLYING ASSOCIATIVE
METHOD
Kuldosheva Nigora Shamsiddin qizi
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13789166
Introduction
In language teaching process vocabulary plays an inseparable part. M.J.
McCarthy (1990) once claimed, “No matter how fast the students learn
grammar, no matter how effectively the sounds of L2 are mastered, without
vocabulary to express a wider range of meanings, interaction in an L2 just can’t
happen in any meaningful way.” (cited in Sheng Jianyuan, 1996). That is the
reason why in Uzbekistan English learners often spare no efforts to know
English words by heart. But the results are not always satisfactory. They often
complain that English words are hard to memorize. Moreover, many college
English teachers do not put much effort on how to create a suitable way to
teach English vocabulary due to the challenging process of teaching. In most
cases hey just leave it to the learners themselves. So the issue of vocabulary
acquisition is becoming more and more serious. Based on this occasion, this
thesis paper is going to present a method of presenting new English words in a
classroom, which is proved to be more effective -associative method through key
word techniques. In Uzbekistan researchers are interested in L2 vocabulary
acquisition in many ways. The research fields and investigations are also very
wide, such as English vocabulary introducing methods, strategies and
techniques, context and vocabulary teaching, word acquisition and teaching,
vocabulary and cultural phenomena , problems in English vocabulary teaching
and their solutions, meaningful learning theory and vocabulary teaching, etc.
(Джусупов Н.М. 2017, с.519- 530)
As it is well known, learners can not memorize all the information that
hey are taught everyday. Only those aspects of new data that have been fully
understood and deeply analyzed could be memorized. In the process of word
information, the mapping of key words with lexical forms to semantic and
conceptual units is represented as a cognitive process. In this process conscious
and explicit learning processes are interconnected. Therefore, the processing of
word memorization is strongly transmitted by the degree to which learners get
engaged, integrate with each other , and elaborate their existing conceptual
knowledge. In other words, during this word memorization process, learners
should not just acquire the knowledge without their own active participation; on
the contrary, they must take part in the process actively. If learners want to
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memorize some new vocabulary, they must associate it, in some different way,
with something they already know or remember. This is associative method
which is carried out through key word assumptions. (Джусупов М. с.351-358)
There are variety of definitions of association, but the key aspect is just the
same: association is a learning process in which learners try to make links
between the freshly learned words with the activation of prior knowledge by all
kinds of ways to memorize the new word deeply. Association should be vivid,
unusual, several aspects form the solid and effective basis for the application of
the associative method with the implementation of some key words, as key
words theory is one of the most indispensable theories underlying associative
method. Association refers to all the knowledge of the world that learners have
acquired through their lives. It can be either a concept or a set of related
concepts, and it can be about objects, ideas, or phenomena that comprise the
whole structure of key words (Keith, Johnson &Helen, Johnson, 2001). Since
information is encoded within pre-existing knowledge,key words can help to
integrate information we are experiencing with our long-term memory
(Groeger, 1997). In this way information becomes more stable and memorable.
In order to define the effectiveness of applying associative method with
key words in teaching English vocabulary among non-English majors,
researchers did an investigation among some non-English majors in local
universities. They found kids with a strong desire for improvement in English
vocabulary. Many students took part in this experiment, they came from various
classes. At the beginning of the new term, they got divided into different classes
to study English according to their English curriculum in the entrance
examination to the college. Though they were in different classes, their English
levels were almost on the same level. During the research the traditional method
through which they used to study was used; while in experimental group
associative method through key words was used. In in the 1
st
Class, the teacher
used conventional method by starting teaching pronunciation and the spelling of
the word and with the second class the method of association was used. At last,
some students were asked to make a sentence with newly acquired words.
While in the Experimental Class, the same teacher, after the correct
pronunciation, spent more time on the analysis of these words, for instance: 1)
Personalize: the stem was person, “person+al” forms an adjective, and then
“personal+ize” forms the verb. According to this explanation, the students could
learn other 2 words related to “person”. What’s more, students could retain a
word formation rule as well, and then the teacher gave them some new English
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words with the same structure, and asked them to guess the meaning from the
context. This sentence at some point might seem very unusual, but this kind of
association made the memory vivid and more interesting. From these two
examples it became obvious that all kinds of association, memorization are used
in the Experimental Class. And the atmosphere in the class should also be
harmonious. After the explanation of associative method in the class, the teacher
also recomended the students to remember English words in this way after class
by themselves. In order to check the students’ application of this method, the
teacher gave them 10 new English words to learn with associative method and
their ways of memorizing these words had to be checked the other day. While in
the Control class, the teacher just distributed the words list among the students
and asked them to learn them by heart, but there was no help with memorizing
strategy, it became clear that with the associative method that uses key words in
language teaching, English learners can memorize words much better than those
with the traditional way. And according to the observation that was carried out
in the class the researchers found that learners in the Experimental Class were
much more active. They presented positive attitude in the class, handed up
voluntarily, and there were more reactions in the Experimental Class. The
atmosphere turned out to be very harmonious and positive. While in the Control
Class the teacher still remained in the main role who controlled the whole class,
students were not as active as those in the Experimental Class. They just listened
to the instructor, without any memorizing and thinking. After class they
memorized the new words by heart.
Conclusion
Through this experiment we could analyze that compared with the
traditional way, associative method that uses key words while teaching new
vocabulary is more effective in enhancing learners’ memorization of English
words. It turned out to be more effective and interesting, learners tend to prefer
it. In the process of making association, there are some points that we should
pay attention to:
1) Association is the way based on learner`s experience. So it might not be so
suitable with younger students.
2) Teachers’ help is vital to English learners in vocabulary learning, as it might
be too challenging for them.
3) No matter which way the learners choose to memorize English words, it is
important to do revision constantly. Definitely there are many other ways to
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present English words in class, so teachers have to try to be more creative to
find the ways to make the lessons more interactive.
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