Mnemonic techniques for memorizing foreign language vocabulary during student independent work on creating association maps in a non-language university

The research aims to substantiate the potential use of mnemonic techniques for memorizing foreign language vocabulary during independent work on creating association maps in a general English course by non-language university students. The paper examines three groups of mnemonic techniques: visual, audiovisual, and auditory, and provides examples of association maps that include visual images, definitions or examples of the use of lexical units in context, as well as associative chains related to students’ personal experiences or contexts of their lives. The scientific novelty of the work lies in clarifying the advantages of using association maps as a means of teaching foreign language vocabulary from the perspective of students who participated in the preparation of these maps during independent work. The research findings indicate that students display a positive attitude towards the use of association maps for memorizing foreign language vocabulary. Students highlight the following advantages of such maps: 1) the time spent on their creation has an impact on deep memorization; 2) students can successfully recall and apply vocabulary during the final control task; 3) they perceive the work on producing maps as a creative task. The research also shows that it is important for students to organize additional practice with association maps for systematic repetition of lexical units in order to preserve them in long-term memory.