The Combined Effects of the Keyword Method and Phonics Instruction on 5th Graders' English Vocabulary Learning in Taiwan

Abstract

本研究之目的為探討融合「關鍵字學習法」及「字母拼讀法」對於國小學童學習英語單字的效益研究。本研究對象為一百零五位某國小五年級學童，學習三十個英文單字。學童分為三組：關鍵字組、字母拼讀組、及融合關鍵字與字母拼讀學習組，各組學童在一週內分別以該組的學習法學習英文單字共三次。每次學習十個單字，學習後會有立即的單字學習測驗，測驗項目有「字義」測驗及「英語拼字」測驗兩項。訓練結束一週後學童再接受相同的測驗。研究結果顯示：（一）「關鍵字學習法」與「融合關鍵字學習法與字母拼讀法」兩組在「字義」的測驗上無論在立即測驗或一週後延宕測驗均顯著優於使用「字母拼讀法」的學童。（二）「字母拼讀法」與「融合關鍵字學習法與字母拼讀法」兩組在「英語拼字」的測驗上無論在立即測驗或一週後延宕測驗均顯著優於使用「關鍵字學習法」的學童。綜觀上述結果，融合「關鍵字學習法」與「字母拼讀法」不僅有助於學童於「字義」上的學習，更能提升「英語拼字」能力。

This study aimed to examine the combined effects of the keyword method and phonics instruction on elementary school students' English vocabulary learning. The participants were 105 fifth graders from three intact classes of an elementary school. These three EFL classes were randomly assigned to three treatment groups (keyword, phonics, and combined keyword-phonics). Each group received three 40-minute learning sessions within one week to learn 30 English target words, i.e., learning 10 words per session. Two recall tests were conducted to measure the learning effectiveness both immediately and one week after the three learning sessions were completed. One of the tests, the receptive recall test, was used to assess students' learning of word meaning, and the other test was the productive recall test that measuredstudents' learning of spelling. The results showed that the keyword group and the combined keyword-phonics group performed significantly better than the phonics group on the immediate and delayed receptive recall tests, and that the phonics group and the combined keyword-phonics group performed significantly better than the keyword group on the immediate and delayed productive recall test. The findings suggest that the keyword method facilitates students' learning of word meaning and that phonics instruction promotes students' English spelling abilities. Therefore, combining the two methods will not only facilitate students' learning of word meaning but also enhance students' spelling abilities.