著者

藤原 釆音

出版者

東京女子大学言語文化研究会

雑誌

東京女子大学言語文化研究 (ISSN:09187766)

巻号頁・発行日

no.28, pp.77-106, 2020-03-01

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Memorizing English vocabulary is an obligatory task for English learners, but there are few studies about the relationship between English vocabulary retention and color. This study therefore investigates effects of text colors on the memorization of English vocabulary. It specifically focuses on examining what influence the Stroop Effect may have. The Stroop Effect occurs when the color of a text and the meaning of that text are contradictory.Ninety-nine students at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University were tested twice on their ability to memorize L2 vocabulary items and their definitions. These subjects were divided into five groups according to the color of the texts in two tests. The first three groups were presented with texts in either black, red, or blue. The fourth group was presented with positive-meaning words colored in red and negativemeaning words colored in blue; and the fifth group was presented with texts in the reverse pattern.The results suggest that, regardless of the Stroop Effect, presenting words in different colors negatively influences the participants’ ability to memorize vocabulary, as Groups 4 and 5 scored lowest on both tests. Group 2, who were presented with red texts, also scored low, while Group 1, who were presented with black texts, scored the highest. These findings indicate that unaccentuated black texts are the best format for presenting vocabulary items to learners.