SUMMARY
Abstract The present study aims to investigate the effects of the use of knowledge maps on student’s level of learning and retention in second language vocabulary. Even if it is clear how important to learn vocabulary in foreign language, for many years this issue has almost never been addressed in-service programs related to this area. While the importance is given to teaching grammar, learning the words that make up the actual basic structure of the language with traditional teaching methods is thought to be sufficient. However, vocabulary learning strategies that go beyond memorization are thought both to facilitate vocabulary acquisition and to improve memory by adapting contents suitable for students. The effects of the use of knowledge maps which is thought to serve this purpose as a different teaching technique especially in vocabulary teaching are investigated and according to the obtained results, various suggestions were made to foreign language teachers. Participants consist 52 7th grade students in Primary School. In this study, vocabulary test (pre-test) was administered to experimental and control groups as a means of data collection tool to determine their balances related to word knowledge. In the study, word instruction was performed by using knowledge maps in the experimental group and listing technique in control group. At the end of the experimental procedure, both groups were applied vocabulary test as post-test (the same as pre-test). After two weeks time, the same tests were applied as retention tests. According to the obtained results, there is a significant difference between the learning and retention levels of control and experimental groups using listing method and knowledge maps. Extended English abstract is in the end of PDF (TURKISH) file. ÖzetBu çalismanin amaci ikinci dil kelime ögrenme sürecinde bilgi haritalarinin kullaniminin ögrencilerin ögrenme ve hatirlama düzeyine etkisini arastirmaktir. Yabanci dilde kelime ögrenmenin ne kadar önemli oldugu açiksa da uzun yillardir bu alanla alakali hizmet içi programlarinda bu konuya yeterince deginilmemektedir. Agirlik dilbilgisi ögretimine verilirken, dilin asil temel yapisini olusturan kelimelerin klasik ögretim yöntemleriyle ögrenilmesinin yeterli olacagi düsünülmüstür. Fakat ezberciligin ötesine geçen kelime ögrenme stratejilerinin hem kelime kazanimini kolaylastirmasi hem de içerigi ögrenciye uygun hale getirerek hafizayi gelistirmesi beklemektedir. Bu amaca hizmet edecegi düsünülen, özellikle kelime ögretiminde farkli bir ögretim teknigi olarak bilgi haritalarinin kullaniminin etkisi arastirilmis ve elde edilecek sonuçlara göre de yabanci dil ögretmenlerine çesitli önerilerde bulunulmustur. Katilimcilar, Ilkögretim Okulu’nda okumakta olan toplamda 52 sekizinci sinif ögrencisidir. Bu çalismada veri toplama araci olarak, deney ve kontrol gruplarina, arastirmada kullanilacak kelime bilgilerine iliskin denkliklerini belirlemek amaciyla kelime testi (ön-test) uygulanmistir. Arastirmada kelime ögretimi deney grubunda bilgi haritalari, kontrol grubunda ise listeleme teknigi kullanilarak yapilmistir. Deneysel islemin bitiminde her iki gruba da kelime testi son test olarak uygulanmistir. 2 hafta sonra ayni test hatirlama testi olarak uygulanmistir. Arastirmadan elde edilen sonuçlara göre listeleme yöntemini ve bilgi haritasini kullanan kontrol ve deney grubunun ögrenme ve hatirlama düzeyleri arasinda deney grubu lehine anlamli bir farklilik bulunmustur.