Views on the Instruction of Sound Symbolism
Question 6: Do you like the instruction of sound symbolism? Why or why not?
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interviewees claimed that they would apply sound symbolism to their vocabulary memorization in the future, two of whom made the claim with the condition that there were simple and direct associations. The other interviewee (10%) said that she still preferred using her own way of learning, i.e. rote learning, to memorize vocabulary.
On the other hand, in terms of the two proficiency groups, the results of the High group agreed well with those of the Low group in the responses to the following four yes-no questions:
Question 2: Is the instruction of sound symbolism helpful for word recognition?
Question 4: Is the instruction of sound symbolism more helpful than Word Analysis Instruction for junior high school students?
Question 5: Are you able to associate sound with meaning in the instruction of sound symbolism?
Question 6: Do you like the instruction of sound symbolism? Why or why not?
Both the High and Low groups responded positively to the above questions.
Nonetheless, for the rest three yes-no questions, the results of the High and Low groups were a little inconsistent (See Table 4.13). To Question 1: “Is the instruction of
sound symbolism helpful for vocabulary memorization?” and Question 7: “Will you apply sound symbolism to vocabulary memorization in the future vocabulary
learning?” there was one negative response respectively, both of which came from the
Low group. As for Question 3, six (60%) interviewees thought that the instruction of sound symbolism was not helpful for memorization of sound of the word, most of whom (N=4) were in the High group.‧
Q1: Is the instruction of sound symbolism helpful for vocabulary memorization?
Q3: Is the instruction of sound symbolism helpful for memorization of sound of the word? 4
LG 3
6
LG 2
HG 9 HG 0
Q7: Will you apply sound symbolism to vocabulary memorization in the future vocabulary learning?
9
LG 0
1
LG 1
Note: HG= High Group; LG= Low Group
After the yes-no questions, open-ended questions about the comments on the instruction of sound symbolism followed in the interviews. Table 4.14 revealed the results of the open-ended questions, Question 8 and Question 9.
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Table 4.14 Interviewees’ Comments on the Instruction of Sound Symbolism Positive Comments
(Advantages)
N Rank Negative Comments
(Disadvantages)
N Rank
HG 2
1. Helpful for word recognition 6
1. Difficult to exert imagination to make associations, especially indirect or complicated ones
8
LG 4
1
3. Helpful for word
retention 4
2. Difficult to decide which letter(s) to vocabulary faster
2
LG 1
5
3. Not applicable to
every English word 1
LG 0
3
HG 1 HG 0
7. Helpful for raising learning motivation 1
LG 0
7
4. Helpless at the spelling
of a word 1
LG 1
3
Subtotal 23 (59%) Subtotal 16 (41%)
Note: 1. N= the number of times the item was mentioned 2. HG= High Group; LG= Low Group
As shown in Table 4.14, there were seven advantages of the instruction of sound
‧
symbolism mentioned in the interviews. The top three positive comments were (1)
“helpful for word recognition,” (2) “more meaningful,” and (3) “helpful for word retention.” As for the negative comments on the instruction, there were totally four types of negative comments in the interviews. The top two were (1) difficult to exert imagination to make associations, especially indirect or complicated ones, and (2) difficult to decide which letter or letters to begin the process of association. In
addition, in Table 4.14, positive comments accounted for around 60%, while negative ones accounted for around 40%. Consequently, the interviewees’ views on the
instruction of sound symbolism were mainly positive. In terms of positive comments, the advantages of the instruction overlapped with the reasons why the participants enjoyed the lessons34, as shown in the following comments:
(High Group)
The instruction is quite interesting. (HG-S1; HG-S5)
Sometimes the students with low learning motivation will pay more attention in class because vocabulary learning becomes fun. (HG-S1)
(Low Group)
The instruction is helpful for word recognition so that multiple-choice questions become easier for me. I am able to guess the meaning of a word easily. (LG-S3; LG-S4)
It is meaningful and interesting to associate sound with meaning by the manner of articulation. For example, the manner of articulation of the sound /k/ is related to the throat; therefore, the meaning of the words like
“call” and “cough” is in association with the throat as well. (LG-S5)
(Both in the High Group and in the Low Group)
The instruction makes vocabulary learning meaningful. I am able to
34 This question was asked in the yes-no question, Question 6.
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associate the sound of a word with its meaning naturally without memorizing the meaning by rote learning. (HG-S2; HG-S5; LG-S1;
LG-S4)
The instruction provides a useful strategy to guess the meaning of a new word by the sound of the word. In addition, it is helpful for word
retention. (HG-S4; HG-S5; LG-S1)
The instruction facilitates vocabulary memorization. (HG-S3; LG-S2;
LG-S4)
The instruction makes it easier to remember the meaning of a word.
(HG-S3; LG-S2)
The instruction makes me memorize vocabulary much faster. (HG-S1;
LG-S2)
Nonetheless, the instruction of sound symbolism was not without its problem, as criticized on a number of aspects.
(High Group)
The meaning of the combination of letters is difficult to me. (HG-S5) When applying sound symbolism to guessing the meaning of an unknown word, I can only get an approximate meaning. (HG-S1)
(Low Group)
Association is an extra load for vocabulary memorization. (LG-S3)
(Both in the High Group and in the Low Group)
For those students who lack imagination or have different ways of imagining things, the method is difficult for them to apply. (HG-S1;
HG-S3; LG-S4; LG-S5)
Indirect or complicated associations like extended meanings derived from another extended meaning are difficult to me. (HG-S1; HG-S2; HG-S5;
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LG-S1)
When encountering an unknown word, I have no idea about which letter or letters to begin with in the process of association. (HG-S2; HG-S4;
HG-S5; LG-S1; LG-S5)
With respect to the two proficiency groups, the High and Low groups made similar comments on the instruction of sound symbolism (See Tables 4.14 and 4.15).
First, as indicated in Table 4.14, the positive comment which was made most
frequently by the High group was also made by the Low group, i.e. Helpful for word
recognition
35. Likewise, the negative comment which was made most frequently by the High group was also made by the Low group, i.e. Difficult to exert imagination tomake associations, especially indirect or complicated ones
36. Furthermore, as shown in Table 4.15, the total mentioned times of the positive comments were composed of around a half (48%) from the High group and another half (52%) from the Low group.Similarly, the total mentioned times of the negative comments consisted of around a half (56%) from the High group and another half (44%) from the Low group. To sum up, the comments on the instruction of sound symbolism from the High group were in tune with those from the Low group, indicating both groups shared similar opinions toward the instruction of sound symbolism.
35 The positive comment which was mentioned most frequently in the High group was Helpful for word recognition, More meaningful, Helpful for word retention, and More interesting and full of fun, while that in the Low group was Helpful for word recognition only.
36 The negative comment which was mentioned most frequently in the High group was Difficult to exert imagination to make associations, especially indirect or complicated ones, and Difficult to decide which letter(s) to begin the process of association, while that in the Low group was Difficult to exert imagination to make associations, especially indirect or complicated ones only.
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Table 4.15 Comments on the Instruction of Sound Symbolism Made by the High &
Low Groups
No. of Positive Comments (Percentage) No. of Negative Comments (Percentage)
HG 11 (47.83%) HG 9 (56.25%)
23
LG 12 (52.17%)
16
LG 7 (43.75%) Note: 1. No. = the number of times the item was mentioned
2. HG= High Group; LG= Low Group
As for the instruction itself, all of the interviewees thought that it was understandable and clear. Finally, some suggestions for improving the instruction were shown in Table 4.16.
Table 4.16 Interviewees’ Suggestions on the Instruction of Sound Symbolism
Items N Rank
To make use of more simple and direct associations 3 1 To teach the words for daily use, instead of the ones from
the word list
2 2
To provide more examples to illustrate sound symbolism 1 3 To teach students to decide which letter or letters to begin
the process of association
1 3
Subtotal 7
Note: N= the number of times the item was mentioned
As Table 4.16 indicated, the interviewees’ suggestions on the instruction of sound symbolism were mainly on the part of the process of association. It seems that indirect
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associations and derivative meanings in the vocabulary memorization were difficult to the students. The researcher also found an interesting fact that four (80%)
interviewees in the Low group made no suggestions on the instruction, while all (100%) of the interviewees in the High group made some.
Generally speaking, the findings of the current study reflect a highly positive attitude toward the instruction of sound symbolism. According to the interview responses, the participants felt that the instruction of sound symbolism had a beneficial effect on their English vocabulary memorization.
Summary
The main findings of the present study were summarized as follows.
(1) With the homogeneity of English proficiency and performance on the pre-test, the experimental group and the control group yielded a statistically significant difference on the post-test, indicating that the instruction of sound symbolism was effective on the participants’ vocabulary memorization.
(2) The high proficiency learners as well as the low proficiency learners in the experimental group made significant progress respectively after the instruction of sound symbolism.
(3) The consistent results of the post-test and the think-aloud sheets showed that the scores of the post-test of the experimental group were mostly gained by the application of sound symbolism instead of other means of vocabulary memorization.
(4) From the perspective of vocabulary learning strategy use, all of the interviewees used rote learning to memorize English vocabulary though some of them also adopted other strategies at the same time. Among the strategies the interviewees used, nearly a half was sound-related. In addition, some students reported reasons
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for vocabulary loss related to sound as well.
(5) Students held a positive attitude toward the instruction of sound symbolism. All of the interviewees enjoyed the instruction. They also felt that the instruction was helpful for vocabulary memorization, especially on the aspect of word recognition.
(6) It was noteworthy that in the instruction of sound symbolism, exerting imagination to make associations, especially indirect or complicated ones was difficult to the students. In addition, it was also difficult for them to decide which letter or letters to begin the process of association in the instruction of sound symbolism.
(7) Almost all of the interviewees claimed that they would apply sound symbolism to their future vocabulary memorization.
(8) By using more simple and direct associations, the students could benefit more from the instruction of sound symbolism.
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CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This chapter discusses the findings of the current study. Section 1 addresses the three proposed research questions based on data collected from the test sheets, the think-aloud method and the interviews. Afterwards, the researcher provides a
summary of the findings reached in this study versus findings of the previous studies as well as possible explanations for the findings. Section 3 to section 5 deal with pedagogical implications for practical applications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research. Finally, the researcher draws a conclusion from the study.
Answers to the Research Questions
Based on the results of the t-tests, the think-aloud method and the interviews, this section summarized the major findings pertinent to the proposed research questions.