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Enhancing EFL students’ language skills by training their phonological short-term memory (Master thesis)

Νεραντζάκη, Θεοδώρα/ Nerantzaki, Theodora

Recent studies emphasize the relationship between phonological short-term memory skills and language development, and support the important contribution of phonological memory in the early stages of both native and foreign language development. This study aimed at (1) investigating the relationship between phonological short-term memory and vocabulary size in 3rd grade Greek-speaking students learning English as a foreign language, and (2) designing, implementing and assessing a phonological memory training program which aimed at strengthening students’ foreign language skills through a series of playful activities in the English language classroom. A pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design was adopted, with an experimental group (N=38) and a control group (N=30). Students of both groups were initially assessed in the English version of the Nonword Repetition Task (NWR), as well as in an English language vocabulary test (receptive and productive). Consequently, students of both groups attended the same English language teaching schedule, following the same activities by the same teacher. However, the experimental group students participated in the training program for 10 minutes at the beginning of each class (4 times a week, for 8 weeks). At the end of these two months, the students of both groups were assessed again as for their NWR skills and vocabulary knowledge. Results confirm the important relationship between their performance in the NWR and their English vocabulary scores. Moreover, a significant enhancement of the experimental group’s vocabulary knowledge during the second assessment was detected. Results are discussed in relation to previous research findings and the possibility of improving and implementing the training program for fostering foreign language learning