An acronym is a word made up by taking the first letter from each word and making a new word from all those letters. Acronyms can be used for memory retrieval, for example, to remember the names of the Great Lakes, you could learn the acronym HOMES — Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. There are also popular acronyms, commonly used for texting and tweeting.
Acronyms as mnemonics
Defined broadly, a mnemonic is a device, procedure, or operation used to improve memory. Defined in narrow terms — and what is usually meant by the word — a mnemonic is a specific reconstruction of target content intended to tie new information more closely to the learner’s existing knowledge base to facilitate retrieval.
There are a variety of mnemonic techniques, including keywords, peg words, acronyms, acrostics, loci methods, spelling mnemonics, phonetic mnemonics, number-sound mnemonics, and Japanese “Yodai” methods.
Below are several more examples of mnemonic acronyms.
| BEDMAS | Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction The sequence in which you should tackle any math problem with multiple calculations. |
| BRASS | Breath, Relax, Aim, Sight, Squeeze How to shoot a rifle. |
| FACE | The letters of the treble clef notes in the spaces from bottom to top spell “FACE”. |
| FAN BOYS | Use a comma between two independent clauses separated by one of the “FAN BOYS” (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So). |
| FOIL | F stands for first terms; O stands for outer terms; I stands for inner terms, and L stands for last terms. The steps involved in factoring algebra problems. |
| HOMES | Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior Names of the Great Lakes. |
| IPMAT | Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase The stages of cell division. |
| MET DR THIP | Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus and Phoebe Saturn’s moons. |
| NEWS | North, East, West, South The points of the compass. |
| PEN | Proton, Electron, Neutron The parts of an atom. |
| ROY G. BIV | Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet Colors of the spectrum. |
| STAB | Soprano, Tenor, Alto, and Bass Four voices in a quartet. |
Popular acronyms
Here are a few examples of popular acronyms, commonly used for tweeting and texting:
- ASAP: as soon as possible
- LOL: laughing out loud
- GIF: graphics interchange format
- PIN: personal identification number
- FOMO: fear of missing out
- YOLO: you only live once
Acronyms vs. abbreviations
An abbreviation is any shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase. Sometimes, abbreviations are pronounced as new words, like when non-Californians refer to California as “Cali.” In other cases, the whole word is pronounced when spoken aloud, like Dr. as the abbreviation for “doctor.” We often use abbreviations for professional titles, days and months, and units of measurement (Kramer, 2022).
All acronyms are types of abbreviations.
Acronyms vs. initialisms
An initialism is a type of abbreviation that uses the first letters of words in a phrase to make a term, which may or may not be pronounced as a new word. As such, acronyms are initialisms. However, initialisms include other terms in which the letters are pronounced, including FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), SOS (Save Our Ship), and IDK (I Don’t Know) (Brewer, 2022).
To summarize, acronyms are always initialisms and abbreviations, but not all initialisms are acronyms.
Acronyms and learning disabilities
Teaching acronyms to children with learning disabilities to aid recall might be “less successful.” There are at least two problems in teaching mnemonics to children with learning disabilities:
- The first problem is that it overlooks the sequential fashion of learning. Mnemonics instruction is, to a large extent, instruction in memory techniques, which should be taught only after the skill of memory has been learned. It can be compared to a child being taught soccer tactics, such as the “wall pass,” while they have not yet adequately mastered the skill of passing the ball. As stated in Knowabout Soccer, “No matter how good your passing technique, if the quality of your passing is poor, your technique will not be effective.”
. - The second problem is that by teaching the child to use memory crutches, the result is that, “on more complex applications, generalization attempts [are] less successful” (Scruggs & Matropieri, 1990). If the skill of memory is taught, however, the child can apply it in any situation.
Edublox programs teach — among other skills — the skill of memory, which makes it possible for a child to apply their memory in any situation.
Edublox offers cognitive training and live online tutoring to students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities. Our students are in the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Book a free consultation to discuss your child’s learning needs.
References:
Brewer, R. L. (2022). Abbreviation vs. acronym vs. initialism (grammar rules). Writersdigest.com.
Kramer, L. (2022). What is an acronym? Definition and examples. Grammarly.com.
Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (1990). Mnemonic instruction for students with learning disabilities: What it is and what it does. Learning Disability Quarterly, 13(4).