Benjamin Black and Dr. Masakazu Watabe, Department of Humanities
My Approach
The purpose of my ORCA project has been to research different methods of language study and ultimately shed light on the method of study that will best engage the student in the target language, keep their motivation to study as high as possible and result in efficient storage of studied materials into the long term memory where it will be available for later retrieval. Through studying the effectiveness of different types of foreign language study my hope is to facilitate a faster and deeper learning of a foreign language by students perusing secondary languages.
To measure the effectiveness of different study methods, participants with no prior Japanese study experience studied Romanized vocabulary words by one of two different study methods. These study methods were; (1) flashcards representative of the most basic language study method and (2) flashcards including a picture representing the meaning of the word on the card which provides additional visual stimulation beyond that of the normal flashcards. At the conclusion of the allotted study time participants were engaged in an activity to clear the vocabulary words from their short-term memory. They then were asked to answer a questionnaire designed to assess how many words they could recall. This data will provide insight into how many words were transferred into the long-term memory.
Failures
After gathering and analyzing the data I have realized that I need to either greatly decrease the amount of study time allotted or greatly increase the amount of vocabulary words participants are asked to study during the ten minutes. Almost every participant mentioned that ten minutes was much longer than they felt they needed for memorizing ten vocabulary words. This was true of participants from both study method groups. Because participants had so long to study the vocabulary words almost all of them got perfect scores. This made it difficult to accurately measure how effective one study method was compared to the other. Some other failures I have encountered have been;
Although I spent a considerable amount of time and energy dedicated to preparing for and designing this project I came to realize that there were still some gaps in my understanding of the different types of secondary language acquisition. This led me to enroll in Japanese 377, a class about teaching Japanese as a second language. The things I learned in Japanese 377 helped develop my understanding of how foreign languages are taught as well as about different methods of language learning currently utilized by professional language teachers when teaching students of all proficiency levels.
Successes
Although I have experienced various setbacks and failures with this project there have also been many successes. Some of the more notable successes include;
Through this project I have gained a much more comprehensive understanding of the research and scientific processes. This knowledge is invaluable for my future as both a student and a professional in my chosen career. Having an early exposure to the research process and scientific method has also helped me become a more critical thinker while studying for other classes.
I have learned how to effectively use scholarly articles and peer reviewed journals and become a more self-enabling learner.
Realizing that there were some flaws with my testing method, and the amount of time participants have to study the vocabulary words, I have gained insight into how I can improve my project. I will now be able to make the appropriate changes when continuing this research project for my BYU honors thesis.
Through my ORCA experience I have been able to work with and be mentored by two truly amazing professors. My time spent with Dr. Watabe and Dr. Miller working on this project has inspired me to be a better researcher. They have helped me resolve to work hard and to be willing to push through any difficulties that may arise. They have helped change the way I view and assess difficult problems.
After consulting with Dr. Miller I have decided to split this project into two separate projects. Within the scope of this ORCA project I was trying to gather data regarding both the various factors which motivate students to study a foreign language and the success rate of a certain study method to facilitate the creation of long term memory versus the success rate of another. I have concluded that it would be more effective to study these two ideas separately. This comes after a long deliberation regarding how I could most effectively study each while not letting one overshadow the other. They are both of extreme interest to me and studying them separate of each other will allow me to gather more meaningful data for each project.
Results
Much to my surprise the average amount of words recalled by participants with visual stimulation was slightly lower than the average amount of words recalled by participants who studied the words without any extra stimulation. This is exactly the opposite of what I had hypothesized would happen. I attribute this to the excess amount of time participants had to study the words. For my honors thesis research I will either increase the amount of vocabulary words participants will study during the ten minutes or I will reduce the time they have to study the words. After reflecting on this problem I think that twenty five vocabulary words in ten minutes or ten vocabulary words in three minutes should produce better results.
Final Reflection
The last year I have spent working on my ORCA project has stretched me in ways I could not anticipate. It has been demanding but also incredibly rewarding. My ORCA research experiences have helped me become a better scholar and researcher. These skills will help me with my honors thesis, medical school and quest to be a lifelong learner. I look forward to perusing more ORCA research opportunities in the future.
