Abstract: Based on previous studies,this experiment is designed to explore the effect of the mnemonic key-letters method on the backward retrieval of the English words.Chinese-speaking university stu dents were used as subjects and English words as materials in the study.The results indicated that the key-letters method could enhance slightly the whole word and could enhance greatly the key-letters part of the English words when cued with their Chinese definitions.The paper gave a detailed discussion on the mechanism of the backward retrieval of the key-letters method.

Key words: keyword method, key-letters method, English vocabulary, mnemonic strategy