Abstract:
This classroom-based research study aims to find outwhether vocabulary memory strategies can help the students storeand recall words more effectively and what the studentsattitudes are towards these strategies.The experiment was carried out with 30 first-year Toolsand Materials Engineering students at King Mongkuts Institute ofTechnology Thonburi. All students were trained in three memorystrategies, namely, grouping, keyword and cognitive depthstrategies, in a study lasting for seven weeks. The instrumentsused for data collection were pre- and post-tests, a semi-structuredinterview, teachers diary, students diaries andquestionnaires.The findings of this study revealed that all three memorystrategies could help the students to improve their storage andrecall of words significantly. The data showed a significantdifference in the students scores between the pre- and post-tests.However, it was found that the students had some problemsin using the strategies, such as a lack of the requisitebackground knowledge and insufficient training in creativethinking; thus a need for remedial and further training wasindicated. From the students diaries and the semi-structuredinterview, the results showed that the subjects had positiveattitudes towards the strategies.