The Effects Of Word Clustering Presentation Modes On Vocabulary Retention Of Senior High School Students

Vocabulary,as a fundamental element of language,has received increasing attention in foreign language teaching recently.One of the focuses is on vocabulary presentation,which is a crucial step of vocabulary teaching.Previous studies have shown that whether words are presented in a clustered manner and how words are clustered have different effects on vocabulary learning outcomes.However,researchers were divided on the effects of different word clustering presentation modes.Therefore,based on the previous studies,the present study intended to explore the effects of word clustering presentation modes(i.e.,semantic,thematic,and non-word clustering modes)on the short-term and long-term retention of target words.150 senior one students participated in the study.They were from three parallel classes(Class 9,10,and 17)in Tanchang NO.1 Senior High School.The three classes were randomly assigned to be semantic clustering group,thematic clustering group and non-word clustering group.Both real and artificial English words were used because the adoption of artificial words can increase the internal validity of the study(Nation,2000).Before and after the treatment,vocabulary tests were conducted to measure the participants’ vocabulary knowledge.One-way ANOVA in SPSS 21.0 was adopted to analyze the data.The results are presented in the following:(1)Thematic clustering is most conducive to short-term retention of target words,followed by non-word clustering and semantic clustering is the worst.(2)In terms of long-term effects,semantic clustering is proved to be most conducive,closely followed by thematic clustering and non-word clustering turns out to be the worst.Based on the related theories,the study argued that the high semantic similarities and low distinctiveness between words in semantic clustering caused interference in words initial learning,which rendered the worst short-term retention.However,distinguishing semantic similarities between words in semantic clustering group required deep processing,which contributed to the desirable long-term retention of target words.Therefore,it is suggested that in the initial vocabulary learning stage,semantic clustering should be avoided and thematic clustering should be adopted.Whereas in the consolidation stage,words can be semantically clustered to promote a stronger retention.