Pictures versus Words in Language Acquisition

Overview

Objectives/Goals There are several ways of teaching language. This experiment examined the use of verbal teaching versus using imagery. The hypothesis is that the use of imagery would enhance language acquisition more than verbal. Methods/Materials The experimenter created two study sheets for learning Latin vocabulary. One contained pictures with the Latin word for them above the pictures. The second study sheet contained those same Latin words with written translations/definitions in English. A test of ten words each with four possible answers in multiple choice format was created. A total 164 seventh grade students in 5 classes were chosen to participate in the experiment. The number who got the "picture" study sheets and the "written" study sheets were evenly divided. They were given 30 seconds to review their study sheet. Then the test was administered to them. The tests were corrected and the results were entered into a computer database. A statistical analysis was done. Results The results were that the average percent correct for those using the "picture" study sheets was 78.59 percent while the average percent correct for those using the "written" study sheets was 72.29 percent. This was statistically significant to 89.7 percent. Conclusions/Discussion Based on these results the hypothesis was accepted that imagery increased the acquisition of language a greater amount than verbal. According to this research, using images for teaching vocabulary is an improvement over verbal methods alone. In addition to studying the verbal definitions, teachers should have pictures in their study materials.

Competition history

• CSEF 2002 Behavioral Sciences · Entry J0328

Resources

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