Emotions and lexical memory

Is there a link between emotion and memory and, if so, can that link be leveraged in the language learning environment to facilitate the consolidation in memory of lexical semantic items in an L2? L2 subjects were given a list of vocabulary items to learn, including a translation of the vocabulary items. Next they were shown a reading passage which used the vocabulary in context. The participants twice heard an audio recording of the passage while they followed along with the text. Participants were divided into an experimental group, in which the audio recording accentuated the emotional content of the story, and a control group, in which the recording was presented in a neutral tone of voice. A post-test, then delayed post-test, assessed how well the subjects remembered the items. The hypothesis was that the style of audio reading accompanying the written text (emotional or neutral) would influence the results on a post-test and a delayed post-test on the vocabulary used in the passage. However, the hypothesis was not supported. Results are discussed in terms of other learning benefits to enhancing the emotional content of the text, which the students in the experimental group found to be more engaging and interesting. Furthermore, methodological issues are examined