Contents introduction chapter I investigating effects of working memory training on foreign language development

Strategy 2. Triggering learners’ retention by color code

The use of consistent colors helped learners remember the information presented more easily. In this case, verbs, nouns and their L1 translation were to be matched and hopefully memorized. Physical coding, such as consistent colors for different subject areas, can help students remember information. This strategy promoted color-coding when teaching new words in categories or families.
The students were given some words (verbs in red and nouns in green) from the previous pre-test activity at the beginning. These words were printed out and cut individually for them to touch them and interact with them. Then, they had to match meanings / translation. Next, they memorized them by challenging their classmates about their meanings in English and Spanish.
After that, the next activity consisted of having the students listen to a recording in which some of the words above were pronounced. In small groups, they had to translate the words heard into Spanish. The group that had most correct participations had a reward. The next step was to play a “Concéntrese” game in which all these words were displayed. The students had to visualize the English words and their Spanish equivalent translation. Volunteers came forward and participated freely as the rest of the class rooted for them. In this case, they paid attention to meaning and position. The results are shown in graph 6.
Graph 6. Strategy 2. Triggering Learners' Retention by Color Code

The results obtained show that 78% of students were able to recognize all the word- translation pairs effectively assisted by colors. However, 11% could only recognized a few pairs, 4% had some difficulties to match pairs. Lastly, a 7% presented serious problems with the pair recognition and therefore did not fulfill the tasks correctly. The criteria for successful performance in this task are as follows:

1. 
   Students are able to match English-Spanish word pairs adequately.
   
2. 
   Students can recognize and translate English words into Spanish while listening to them.
   
3. 
   Students are able to pair as many words as possible in the “Concéntrece” Game.