| Summary: | I documented my strategies for learning sound-symbol correspondences
during a Khmer course. I used a mnemonic strategy
that I call the keyimage method. In this method, a character evokes
an image (the keyimage), which evokes the corresponding sound. For
example, the keyimage for the character 2 could be a swan with its
head tucked in. This evokes the sound "kaw" that a swan makes,
which sounds similar to the Khmer sound corresponding to 2. The
method has some similarities to the keyword method. Considering
the results of keyword studies, I hypothesize that the keyimage method
is more effective than rote learning and that peer-generated
keyimages are more effective than researcher- or teacher-generated
keyimages, which are more effective than learner-generated ones.
In Dr. Andrew Cohen's plenary presentation at the Hawaii
TESOL 2007 conference, he mentioned that more case studies are
needed on learning strategies (LSs). One reason to study LSs is that
what learners do with input to produce output is unclear, and knowing
what strategies learners use may help us understand that process
(Dornyei, 2005, p. 170). Hopefully, we can use that knowledge to
improve language learning, perhaps by teaching learners to use the
strategies that we find. With that in mind, I have examined the LSs
that I used in studying Khmer as a foreign language, focusing on
learning the syllabic alphabet.
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