The effects of semantic and thematic clustering on the learning of second language vocabulary

ESL students are often presented much of their new English vocabulary preorganized for them in ‘semantic clusters’, sets of semantically and syntactically similar words, e.g., eye, nose, ear, mouth, chin. Although clustering of this sort facilitates the activities which serve current approaches to language teaching and would seem,at first glance, to facilitate vocabulary learning as well, little or no empirical justification is offered by researchers in support of its employment. In fact, research that might apply, psychological research generated by interference theory, would predict that such clustering of similar items impedes rather than enhances learning. On a more positive note, a more ‘thematic’ manner of organizing new L2 vocabulary is suggested by more recent psychological research which would predict that clusters like frog, green,hop, pond,slippery, croak would be more easily learnt than groups of unassociated words. With these predictions in mind,the reported research explored the effects upon L2 vocabulary learning of both ‘semantic’ and ‘thematic’ clustering. The results provide a wide range of evidence that suggests that semantic clustering does indeed serve as a hindrance while thematic clustering serves as a facilitator of new language vocabulary learning.