The effect of mind mapping on vocabulary retention among junior high school students

Abstract Vocabulary is an important part of English learning. Compared with the primary school, junior high school English vocabulary in terms of difficulty and quantity are greatly increased. Many students spend a lot of time to memorize words, but with little success. Memorizing has become a major obstacle for students to learn English. Therefore, this paper attempts to study the effectiveness of using mind map to assist the memory of vocabulary.71610

Mind map is a kind of technique to image thinking, and it is also a process of transforming knowledge structure into image. It can take the advantage of the law of memory, reading, and thinking to achieve the balance between logic and imagination, and between science and art, and to stimulate the brain's unlimited potential. Mind mapping allows students to produce unlimited associations, which makes the thinking process more active and more creative at the same time.

In this study, the author selected students in Grade 9 as the research participants. During the six week experiment, the author collected a large number of relevant data and information through literature study, , teaching experiment and questionnaire survey. Then the data selected from the tests and questionnaire were analyzed with the help of SPSS and Excel software. Through the research results, the author draws a conclusion: the use of mind map in English vocabulary teaching can improve the correct rate of the students' vocabulary, and promote the extraction and reproduction of the vocabulary. At the end of the study, the limitations and deficiencies of the experimental study are summarized, and the future research is prospected.

Keywords: Mind map；word map;  vocabulary retention；junior high school students 

思维导图对初中学生词汇记忆的影响

摘要在英语学习中，词汇是重要的组成部分。相对于小学阶段，初中英语词汇在难度和词汇量上都大大增加。许多学生花了大量时间来记忆单词，却收效甚微。单词的识记已然成为了学生学习英语的一大障碍。因此，本文试图研究运用思维导图辅助词汇记忆的有效性。

思维导图是一种将思维图像化的技巧，也是将知识结构转化为图像的过程它能够利用记忆、 阅读、 思维的规律，协助人们在科学与艺术、 逻辑与想象之间平衡发展，从而激发大脑的无限潜能。思维导图可以让学生产生无限制的联想，这使思维过程更活跃同时更具创造性。

本研究选取初三学生作为研究对象。在为期六周的实验研究中，笔者通过文献检索、问卷调查、教学实验等研究方法，收集了大量相关数据和资料。最后应用 SPSS 和 Excel 办公软件对调查问卷以及词汇默写的数据进行了分析。通过研究结果作者得出结论：使用思维导图进行英语词汇教学，能提高学生词汇的拼写正确率，促进词汇的提取与再现。最后，总结了整个实验研究的局限与不足，并对后续研究进行了展望。

毕业论文关键词： 思维导图； 单词图； 词汇记忆； 初中生

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the research 1

1.2 The significance and purpose of the study 1

1.3 Organization of the thesis 2

2. Literature Review 3

2.1 Mind map and learning 3

2.1.1 The concept of mind map 3

2.1.2 The role of mind map in learning 3