VOCABULARY AND PHRASE LEARNING ONLINE

CALL Workshop Nov 16, 2013Haidee Thomsonwww.haidee.thomson.comhaidee.thomson@gmail.comFuji Women’s University

OUTLINE

•What is memrise?

•How does it work?

•How do I use it?

•What I’ve found

•How can you use it

HOW CAN I REMEMBER NEW VOCABULARY?•Word cards - look at the L1 word and recall the L2 word

•Say it and self-check

•Remind yourself revise them

•Mix them up when practicing to avoid sequential learning

•Eventually you end up with a lot of cards…what do you do with them?

ONLINE VOCABULARY LEARNING

www.memrise.com

WHAT IS MEMRISE?

•www.memrise.com

•Online learning community

•Crowd sourced

•Free

•Over 6,000 courses (200+languages, vocabulary, history, geography, trivia etc.)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

•Mems (memory aids)

•Spaced retrieval (optimum intervals to maintain memory)

•Game-like environment

•Personalised (you can make a course to meet your needs)

•Learning cycle – presentation to production

MEMS (ELABORATE ASSOCIATIONS)

“…the mnemonic increases the availability of multiple retrieval routes, involving both imagery and verbal associations” (Paivio & Desrochers, 1981, p. 788)

Connect the new word with existing knowledge so that retrieval becomes easier (see Levin, Levin, Glasman, & Nordwall, 1992)

SPACED RETRIEVAL: REMINDER EMAIL

Refresh memories at spaced intervals for maximum retrieval and retention (c.f. Hulstijn, 2001, p. 286).

Imagery for motivation Plant a seed

(memory) Water the

memory It grows into a

flower

GAME LIKE ENVIRONMENTLeaderboard for competition

PERSONALISED: CREATE YOUR OWN COURSE

PRESENTATION

ADD MNEMONICS OR IMAGES (MEMS)

MULTI-CHOICE (RECEPTIVE KNOWLEDGE)

WRITE THE WORD (PRODUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE)

PROGRESS FEEDBACK

HOW I USE IT

•Add Japanese words or phrases as I go

•Revise using computer or phone (on subway, waiting in lines etc.)

•Add English phrases for students from coursebook etc.

WHAT I’VE FOUND

•Problem: lack of participation (not compulsory)

•Leaderboard: those that participate stand out (potentially demotivating)

•Solution: set minimum monthly scores

•Need to water memories regularly to grow them and keep them (just like plants)

WHAT I’VE FOUND

•You can choose to use mems made by others

•But making your own mems is most effective/memorable

•However it requires understanding and practise

Try: Words that sound similar (shouten) focus and shopKeyword (word that sounds similar and interacts with target word)Something that you associate with that word

DATABASE OF IMAGES TO CHOOSE FROM

HOW YOU COULD USE IT

•Create a list of the words or phrases you want learners to learn for each unit

•Upload these lists to create your own course

•Make the course ‘unlisted’ to keep it private (only your learners)

•Encourage learners to make their own mems

Alternatively

• Ask learners to build the course collaboratively (function to allow other contributors) A different group could add the words each week, or each person could add one word each week…

PHRASE LEARNING: PRESENTATION

PHRASE LEARNING: MULTI-CHOICE

PHRASE LEARNING: ORDER THE WORDS

REFERENCES

Hulstijn, J. (2001). Intentional and incidental second language vocabulary learning: A reappraisal of elaboration, rehearsal, and automaticity. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and Second Language Instruction (pp. 258–286). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Jones, M. S., Levin, M. E., Levin, J. R., & Beitzel, B. D. (2000). Can vocabulary-learning strategies and pair-learning formats be profitably combined? Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(2), 256–262.

Levin, J. R., Levin, M. E., Glasman, L. D., & Nordwall, M. B. (1992). Mnemonic vocabulary instruction: Additional effectiveness evidence. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 17(2), 156–174. doi:10.1016/0361-476X(92)90056-5

Paivio, A., & Desrochers, A. (1981). Mnemonic techniques in second-language learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(6), 780–795. doi:http://dx.doi.org.helicon.vuw.ac.nz/10.1037/0022-0663.73.6.780

THANK YOU!

Websitewww.haidee.thomson.com

Emailhaidee.thomson@gmail.com

Slideshow linkhttp://www.slideshare.net/haideerich/vocabulary-and-phrase-learning-online-nov-16-2013