Keyword Method
a.
Definition
of Keyword Method
Keyword method is a form of mnemonics. In this technique, students are taught to associate
the new word to a familiar keyword so they can easily recall the new word and
remember its meaning whenever they come across it in their reading. For example, when learning Spanish as a
second language, a student may need to learn the word “playa,” which means
“beach.” A good keyword for “playa“ would be “play.” This helps the student create a mental
picture of playing in the beach to recall the word ”playa.”
To
help students develop a keyword, identify the new term and give the students
its definition. Find a keyword that
relates to the new term using a visual image or a familiar phrase. If possible, show the students a picture that
makes as association between the keyword and the new word. This will help cement the definition of the
new word in their minds. For example,
when learning the word “rain day,” a specific term for a family of frogs, a
good keyword would be “rain.” You could show students a picture of frogs
dancing in the rain to help them remember.
Defined
in broad terms, a mnemonic is a device, procedure, or operation that is used to
improve memory. Defined in narrow terms — and what is usually meant by the word
— a mnemonic is a specific reconstruction of target content intended to tie new
information more closely to the learner's existing knowledge base and,
therefore, facilitate retrieval.
There
are a variety of mnemonic techniques, including keywords, peg words, acronyms, acrostics, loci methods, spelling
mnemonics, phonetic mnemonics, number-sound mnemonics, and Japanese “Yodai”
methods.
The
keyword method Levin in McWhorter, (1992:141) is a mnemonic method at helps
students to learn new information by associating it to interactive visual
images for later recall.
Levin
in McWhorter, (1992:143) states that learning new information using the keyword
method is based on a process of recoding, relating, and retrieving. First, students must recode, or transform,
the unknown word to be learned into a more meaning full keyword that looks or
sounds like the original. An example
might be the word potable which means suitable for drinking. Potable is recoded to the familiar word, pot,
which is then related to the original word by the use of an actual picture or a
mental image of a pot of cool spring water sitting in front of you after you
have crossed a hot desert. With recoding
and relating established, students are now able to use the keyword to retrieve
the correct meaning when they encounter the new word. In other words, on seeing the word potable
students are reminded of the keyword pot.
This, in turn, leads them to think of the picture or an appropriate
visual image which then leads them to the correct response of ”suitable for
drinking.”
The
effectiveness of the keyword method is also based upon adherence to there
assumptions about picture strategies for learning. First, pictures or images can facilitate
learning because provide a means by which to learn difficult material. Second, the more directly the pictures or
images are to the content to be learned, the more effective the learning will
be.
Finally,
even given the previous two assumptions, research suggests that the pictures
will not be helpful if they are not familiar enough to provide an organization
frame work for understanding and retrieving the new information. The keyword strategy meets that this assumption and the two aforementioned
assumptions by enabling students to the recode the new material to be learned
into a concrete keyword and relate it within a visual image so it can be easily
retrieved.
The
keyword method was originally used to improve college students’ ability to
learn a foreign language Atkinson in McWhorter, (1992:143). Since then, the use
of method has expanded to help students, elementary through college, to learn
vocabulary and content facts.
b.
The steps of Keyword Method
Konopak
and Williams (1988) described how to use the Keyword method in the classroom
employing the following steps:
1)
Teacher preparation
Using
the passage, the teacher must decide what particular minerals are to be learned
and where ach of them is used. Next, a keyword
must be assigned to each mineral. Then,
the visual image of the keyword interacting with its primary use is
developed. It is recommended that an
actual illustration be used to demonstrate this image; however, an elaborate
statement may be used it can easily create a mental image for the
students.
2)
Modeling.
Tell
students that key will be using a study method to help them remember the names of
minerals they need to learn and their use.
To demonstration the keyword method, use the example of amber.
Provide a short description o it and tell them it is used primarily in
the home. Exampling to them that a
keyword, which either looks or sounds like amber, will help them learn the
information they need to know. Since hamburger
sounds like the target word, it be comes the keyword for that mineral. Next, students are shown a picture of a hamburger
sitting on a chair in a living room.
They are informed that by thinking of the picture they will remember
that amber (hamburger) is a mineral used primarily in the home (living
room). Other demonstrative example
should follow until students’ understand the concept of the method.
3)
Guided practice
Distribute
to the students a short passage about the first
the target mineral, rhodonite, which is used in the home, and a illustration showing a road going
through a living room. The target word,
rhodonite and the keyword, road, should be used as captions for the
illustration. The students are directed
to read the passage and examine the accompanying picture for the purpose of
recalling the mineral and its use. The
picture should be discussed as to how it helps them recall the information.
4)
Independent practice.
Break
students into small groups of there or four members and have them read the rest
of the rest of the text information about minerals. Provide them with keywords
and have them develop their own mnemonics images, given the examples you
previously prepared. These should be shared with the whole class.
1)
Transfer.
To
initiate the successful transfer of this method from teacher provided keywords
and illustrations to student-oriented mnemonics, provide additional text
information about minerals without supplying a keyword. Students will then need
to read the material and develop their own mnemonics to aid in the recall of
the material. They will need to be reminded of the study technique and how
effective they may have found it. Students will also need encouragement and
feedback as they develop their own visual images. Again, these should be shared
with the whole class for purposes of feedback.
To further promote transfer, watch for other
opportunities for students to use the keyword method in their other subject
matter areas. They may need to be prompted by the teacher or other students
until the method is fully learned.
The
method will be considered using an example adapted from Konopak and Williams
(1988, 685-687). It involves a fifth grade science unit on minerals in which
students are asked to recall the names and primary use of various minerals.
