Page 119 - Teaching English at Primary Level: From Theory into the Classroom

Vocabulary Focus

Encoding Retrieval
Storage
information information that
information
is placed into has been stored
memory system is stored is reactivated
Figure 7.2 Stages of Memory

some of them. Retrieval refers to the process of reactivating information that
has been stored in memory. Studies have found that we are more likely to re-
trieve something from memory that has been presented to us early or later
in a list. One explanation for this is that when we hear the first words in the
list, we automatically start to rehearse them, making it more likely that they
will be moved from short-term to long-term memory. But for the words in
the middle of the list, this rehearsal becomes much harder (Bailey & Pransky,
2014). This has important implications for teaching an FL to YLs. We might
consider, for example, putting more important vocabulary at the beginning
of the list or limit the number of vocabulary items to be learnt.
When pupils learn a new word, it first enters their short-term memory. Now
theroleofthe teacheristomakethe vocabulary availablefor the longterm
by using a range of vocabulary memorizing activities. One way of making
strong memory connections is to present vocabulary in an organised way.
This can be done by (Cameron, 2001, pp. 87–89):

• organising vocabulary by theme (e.g. food, clothes, family, etc.),
• using whole-part relations (e.g. body – arms – fingers – nails),
• building vocabulary from general to specific hierarchies (e.g. furniture
–chair),
• using clines or degrees (e.g. hot – warm – cold),
• organising vocabulary in ‘ad-hoc’ categories (e.g. things to take on the
school trip).

In this way we also teach children different memorising strategies. A very
efficient strategy is the so-called memory palace technique which was in-
vented already in ancient times. In this technique, we associate a location we
are familiar with – such as one’s flat or house, or the route we take to work or
school –with the itemsweare trying to remember. It works becauseweare
visually pegging (or ‘placing’) representations of what we want to remember
in places we already have strong memories of.
Thornbury (2002) points out that similar forms tend to be located close to

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