A Study of English Vocabulary Learning Using the Dual Coding Theory

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the application of the three types of coding which were L2 Ü L1 (Thai) translation, pictorial, and in particular simultaneous L2 Ü L1 and pictorial – Dual Coding Theory (DCT) to 36 seven-letter English concrete nouns among 58 Thai EFL tertiary students who were at the beginning level.  The investigation lookedat the effectiveness of each type of coding in terms of the recognition rate (working memory) after three spaced presentations and the retention rate (long-term memory) among participants.  The analyses were done by one way ANOVA.  The findings suggested that the simultaneous L2 Ü L1 and pictorial coding (DCT) group outperformed the other two groups both in the immediate posttest and the one month delayed posttest, but no statistically significant difference was found among the three groups.