Are Alliterative Word Combinations Comparatively Easy to Remember for Adult Learners?

Autor/inn/en	Boers, Frank; Lindstromberg, Seth; Eyckmans, June
Titel	Are Alliterative Word Combinations Comparatively Easy to Remember for Adult Learners?
Quelle	In: RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 43 (2012) 1, S.127-135 (9 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0033-6882
DOI	10.1177/0033688212439997
Schlagwörter	Auditory Stimuli; Mnemonics; English (Second Language); Teaching Methods; Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Phrase Structure; Phonology; Retention (Psychology); Language Tests; Language Processing + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Auditive Stimulation; Mnemotechnik; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Phrasenstruktur; Fonologie; Merkfähigkeit; Language test; Sprachtest; Sprachverarbeitung
Abstract	Lindstromberg and Boers (2008a, 2008b) have reported experiments with adult learners of English which revealed a comparative mnemonic advantage afforded by word combinations that display sound patterns such as alliteration ("green grass") and assonance ("home phone"). These findings are relevant for TESOL, given the fact that English phraseology abounds with alliterative and assonant expressions (Boers and Lindstromberg, 2009, chapter 6). The authors recommend classroom interventions that draw learners' attention to the alliteration or assonance in standardized word strings such as collocations so as to unlock their mnemonic potential. They contend that such interventions are justified because learners are unlikely to take notice of a sound pattern such as alliteration spontaneously, while noticing is widely believed to be a crucial step towards retention (e.g. Schmidt, 2001). The mnemonic advantage of alliteration and assonance in Lindstromberg and Boers' (2008a, 2008b) experiments was attested after tasks that required the participants' conscious engagement with the given sound pattern. This does not actually preclude the possibility that learners reap some mnemonic benefits of these sound patterns also without being made aware of the sound repetition. In this article, we report a new within-participant experiment in which matched samples of alliterative and non-alliterative word pairs were dictated to upper-intermediate to advanced learners of English. The participants were not briefed about the presence of alliterative stimuli; they were merely asked to repeat each dictated word pair before writing it down. The results of an unannounced free recall test revealed significantly better recall of the alliterative stimuli, but the difference was not at all as pronounced as in the aforementioned experiments, where the participants had engaged in more explicit and more elaborate processing of phonological form. (Contains 1 table.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10