The Context-Retrieval Instruction: Asking About Example Sentences Improves Retention of English Word Meanings

Abstract

　　Hasegawa (2012b) has found that when Japanese learners of English read sentences with pseudowords, they were able to recall the content of the sentences when cued by the pseudowords. This suggests that in some cases, paying attention to the sentence meaning may enhance the recall rate of the target word meaning, although researchers may believe that the scores of a post-learning word-meaning test is always maximized by a learning method focusing on the word meanings. In the present study, 43 Japanese learners of English as a foreign language learned a list of 10 English words with Japanese translations and example sentences within seven minutes. After that, the participants were asked to write down the meanings of half the learned words in Japanese (i.e., translation instruction). For the other half, the participants were asked to write down the content of the example sentences (i.e., context-retrieval instruction). Six weeks later, an unannounced test asked the participants to recall the meanings of all target words. As a result, the higher proficiency (Intermediate) group’s score was higher for the context-retrieval instruction condition than the translation instruction condition, whereas the lower proficiency (Elementary) group showed no significant difference across the conditions. The results are discussed based on the word-context association theory and Barcroft’s (2002, 2003) model.