Mind mapping as a tool of teaching English vocabulary at transport university

Rostov State Transport University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

^* Corresponding author: oks.marunevich@mail.ru

Abstract

The core problem of teaching English as a second language at transport university is students’ poor knowledge of vocabulary. Current solutions to the given problem such as providing word explanations and repetitive practices are ineffective. We strongly believe that the mindmapping technique proposed by Tony Buzan as a note-taking method is a novel, yet an extremely potent tool that aids students in enlarging their professional word stock by associating new vocabulary to their existing knowledge using colors, images, symbols, etc. As might have been expected, the findings of our study point towards the idea that the strong visual appeal of mind maps created by easy-to-use software boosted the educational process and helped students of the experimental group memorize more new words in contrast to students of the control group.