Word for Mac 2011 – recording new macro crashes program

This is a question concerning Microsoft Office 2011 for Macand the application Word for Mac 2011. Word version is 14.6.0. It runs on an iMac with the latest version of OSX El Capitan 10.11.2.

For several days now, whenever I try to record a macro made up of simple keystrokes, Word crashes. I get as far as selecting whether to assign the macro to the toolbar or the keyboard; then, when 'OK' is pushed Word crashes. When I open the list of existing macros I've made and select 'edit' an error message appears "out of memory" – which cannot possibly be the case.

I have thought of and tried a number of possible fixes, but so far no luck. Is this a problem others have had, and does anyone know how to fix it?

Thanks for assistance.

-Neil