Abstract:
Retention and learning are neurolinguistic and psycholinguistic processes. The brain electrical response to the cognitive processes that happen in the cortices is inescapable. During neuronal activities, created waves can be recorded and displayed by quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) in a non-invasive form. Beta waves are created by thinking, learning, computations, reasoning, attention, and problem-solving activities. This study's primary goal was to objectively investigate the variable impact of multisensory and non-multisensory methods of instruction on vocabulary retention concerning beta and beta1 waves frequency changes. To meet the purpose, some pre-school novice male and female foreign language learners participated in this study voluntarily and were assigned into two experimental groups: The Multisensory (three girls and four boys) and Non-multisensory (one girl and six boys) teaching groups. The analyses of the collected data on pre- and post-brain QEEG records of beta and beta1/SMR waves' variations indicated no significant difference between the two groups in the brain oscillatory changes. However, the case study analyses specified the supremacy of beta1 frequency ranges in the Multisensory post-records. The comparative findings of pre- and post-Expressive One Word-Picture-Matching Test (EWPMT) showed that the Multisensory group outperformed the Non-multisensory one; besides, a significant positive relationship was found between beta wave frequency changes on Fp1 and mean score of EWPM post-test in the Multisensory group. The study concluded that the multisensory approach could be a promising method to improve retention at the pre-school level.
Machine summary:
Multisensory Teaching and Beta and SMR Oscillatory Activities in Foreign Language Vocabulary Retention: A Neurolinguistic Study Farnaz Farrokh Alaee, Ph. D.
The comparative findings of pre- and post-Expressive One Word-Picture-Matching Test (EWPMT) showed that the Multisensory group outperformed the Non-multisensory one; besides, a significant positive relationship was found between beta wave frequency changes on Fp1 and mean score of EWPM post-test in the Multisensory group.
In an action research, D’Alesio, Scalia, and Zabel (2007) applied direct instructional approach of multisensory teaching, using graphic organizers, classical music, and Brain Gym exercises, at elementary level and concluded that this intervention improved the number of vocabulary that the students recognized, understood, and used over five times as many words.
Using non-invasive neuroimaging techniques (EEG waves and brain maps) and seeking an interdisciplinary approach, the present study intended to compare the beta and beta1 QEEG data between the Multisensory and Non-multisensory teaching groups, we tried to objectively and empirically examine how these different methods had affected vocabulary retention.
QEEG Brain Maps Related to Beta and Beta1 Waves Record before and after 20 Sessions of Instruction (Multisensory and Non-Multisensory Teaching) -(Green - Normal Red = Excessive Blue = Diminished Activity) Hypothesis 2 The results of Kolmogorov Smirnov's non-parametric test on the mean scores of the post-test indicated the normality of the data and the homogeneity of the variances (Table 4).
To sum up, our work applied the noninvasive neuroimaging technique of QEEG to reveal the probable changes in beta and beta1/SMR wave frequencies of pre- school children as a result of multisensory teaching in FL new vocabulary items retention.