THE USE OF MIND MAPS FOR VOCABULARY EXPANSION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Foreign‐language learners often struggle to move new lexical items from short-term exposure to durable, retrievable knowledge. Cognitive research suggests that visual–verbal integration, association density, and generative processing all facilitate lexical retention, yet classroom practice still relies heavily on de-contextualised word lists and rote repetition. The present study investigates the effectiveness of mind mapping as a vocabulary-building technique in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) context. Sixty intermediate Uzbek university students were divided into experimental and control groups. Over ten weeks the experimental group constructed handwritten and digital mind maps that connected target words to semantic neighbours, collocations, images, and L1 equivalents, while the control group used traditional notebook glossaries. The findings support dual-coding, generative learning, and cognitive-load theories, suggesting that mind maps can be a cost-effective, scalable tool for vocabulary expansion.