The Effect of Memory Strategy Training on Vocabulary Development of Austrian Secondary School Students

Reading comprehension on exams is one of the issues presented when taking standardized exams.Then, it is a challenge due to the difficulties in terms of one of the language areas (vocabulary), lack of strategies or even the exam structure.This research presents a type of memory strategy that allowed learners from a public school and a private university, both in Colombia, to set goals and determine the corresponding strategies to accomplish them in order to strengthen vocabulary command when reading B1 descriptive texts at Pruebas Saber 11 and Pruebas Saber Pro.Learners and teachers' journals, a pre-test and a post-test were used to collect information that allowed us to determine the influence of SMART goals and word association on the sample population reading comprehension skills.Findings indicated that the selected strategy along with SMART goals contributed to strengthening vocabulary command when reading B1 descriptive texts at the aforementioned tests.As a result, students became more conversant with their own learning progress, acquiring a higher sense of commitment and becoming more active participants regarding their own self-set academic goals.