Initial word mnemonics: an effective multisensory method for dyslexics

What is a mnemonic??

“Mnemonics” comes from the Greek word meaning “from memory.” There are numerous forms of mnemonics, usually involving some sort of linkage or loci system, but they all have one thing in common. They dramatically improve recall. They are very powerful and can sometimes be retained in memory for a lifetime. Word lists that would normally be very difficult to retain in memory because they have no inherent organization can be turned into a mnemonic and instantly pinned for retrieval. Visualization is the key to success with the mnemonic and this helps explain its popularity among dyslexics, who on average tend to be visual thinkers.

Since dyslexia is a condition in which “short-term memory” is impaired, any method that increases this will be preferred. The spelling process requires the image of a word to be retained in the language center of the left hemisphere of the brain. A retained image allows you to remember the correct sequence of letters to be able to write the word later. When word images cannot be retained in memory, as with dyslexia, spelling becomes impossible.

Initial word mnemonics

Mnemonics are immensely helpful here. For decades, children have been given sentence-style mnemonics to remember irregular words like “because.”

“Big elephants can always understand small elephants.” is a typical example. By taking the first letter of each of the words in the chant in exactly that order, it produces the correct spelling of “because.” Although this method is successful for spelling occasional words, as a system for remembering many words it has some weaknesses. Since this style of singing has no reference to the word in it, this immediately reduces its effectiveness. Compare this to the initial word mnemonic. If you BEGIN the chant with the word to be learned, it becomes a completely different system.

“because elephants can easily add sums”

Immediately this song is related to the word “because” and that has numerous advantages. Hearing the word will act as a trigger to later remember the chant more easily. Since there are no guesses involved in matching the chant to the word, hundreds can be learned and retained in memory. Ultimately, any word can become a memory song, as long as it’s not too long. However, it is a particularly effective system for teaching the spelling of high-frequency words that typically contain 2-7 letter words.

Word-initial mnemonics and homophones

Word-initial mnemonics are also very effective for homophones. They grasp both the spelling and the meaning at the same time. To give an example:

“rolls eaten at dinner” spells the bread we eat, but “really exotic dogs bred” is the past tense of the verb to breed. Both spelling and meaning are learned at the same time. This is particularly effective in overcoming the confusion associated with homophones.

Multisensory Aspects of Mnemonics

Aside from the advantages noted above, word initial mnemonics are fully multi-sensory. Each song is a story that has meaning for the brain and stimulates the imagination. It is then illustrated and this consequently activates the visual cortex. When sung out loud several times, a connection is established with the auditory cortex. All of these factors work together to produce a really fast, effective, and fun method that takes the stress out of spelling. Word start mnemonics have restored the confidence of struggling dyslexics and helped them achieve levels and grades they never thought possible.