Effect of Electronic Dictionary as an ICT Tool on English Collocation Learning of EFL Learners

Authors

  • Zeinab Toghyani Murnani
  • Hadi Salehi

Keywords:

Informational and Communicational Technology (ICT), Collocation, Electronic Dictionary, Vocabulary

Abstract

Within the last few two decades, media technology has diversified the forms of learners' dictionaries, as electronic dictionaries, for example those on CD-ROM or online, have become well-known among EFL learners all over the world therefore, the degree at which electronic dictionaries have been substituting their printed counterparts is impressive, though not altogether unpredicted. The electronic dictionary has significantly evolved as one of the most popular tools by learners. The main purpose of this study was to investigate on the impacts of using an electronic dictionary in learning a second language collocation. To achieve the intended purposes, an Oxford Placement Test (OPT) was run among 340 learners in 6 different language institutes. Those learners who scored between 40 to 50 were chosen as the intermediate level. After selecting 100 participants based on the results of the OPT, they were placed in two groups, namely experimental, and control. The participants of the experimental group received new teaching methods of collocations via the electronic collocation dictionary (ECD), while the control group were taught based on the traditional teaching methods. In order to collect the data, participants ‘first was given a pre-test, then after teaching, posttest and last one was the delayed posttest. The findings demonstrated that the experimental group using [ED] significantly have outperformed the ones in control group in their acquisition of collocations. In conclusion, the results of the study revealed that employing an electronic collocation dictionary could create a desirable condition to enhance the EFL learners ‘acquisition of collocations. This study also has some pedagogical implications for using ED as an influential learning tool in teaching vocabulary.

 

References

Aust, R., Kelley, M. J., & Roby, W. (1993). The use of hyper-reference and conventional dictionaries. Educational Technology Research and Development, 41(4), 63-73.

Bahns, J & Eldaw, M. (1993). Should we teach EFL students collocations? System, 21(1), 101-114.

Benson, M., Benson, E. &Ilson, R. (1986). The BBI dictionary of English word combinations 2nd edition. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Candy Chen-Pin Liu (2000), Inami, Nishikata, Nakayama, and Shimizu (1997). Tarp, 2006)

Chang, A. (2007). The impact of vocabulary preparation on L2 listening comprehension, confidence and strategy use. System, 35, 534–550.

Chung, X., & Nation, I. S. P. (2003). Technical vocabulary in specialised texts. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15, 103–116

Coady, J & Huckin, T (Eds.). (2003). Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coxhead, A., & Byrd, P. (2007). Preparing writing teachers to teach the vocabulary and grammar of academic prose. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16, 129–147.

Firth, J. R. (1957).Modes of meaning. In J. R. Firth (Ed.), Papers in linguistics. Pp.115-197. Oxford, UK: Oxford University

Guillot, M. N & Kenning, M. M (1994) Electronic monolingual dictionaries as language learning aids: a case study", Computers in Education, 23 (1/2): 63-73

Hulstijn, J. H. (1993). When do foreign-language readers look up the meaning of unfamiliar words? The influence of task and learner variables. Modern Language Journal, 77, 139-147.

Knight, S. (1994) Dictionary use while reading: The effects on comprehension and vocabulary acquisition for students of different verbal abilities. The Modern Language Journal, 78(3), 285-299.

Koga, Y (1995) The effectiveness of using an electronic dictionary in second language reading. Bulletin of the Liberal Arts of Hiroshima University, 44, 239- 244.

Laufer, B., Elder, C & Hill, K. &Congdon, P., (2004). Size and strength: do we need both to measure vocabulary knowledge? Language testing, 21(2), pp.202-206.

Laufer, B., (1997). Reading in a foreign language: how does L2 lexical knowledge interact with the reader’s general academic ability? Journal of Research in Reading, 15(2), pp.95 103.

Lewis, M. (2000). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and a way forward. Hove: Language Teaching Publications.

Munday, J. (2009) The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies. New York: Routlege.

Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed forreading and listening. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59-82.

Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Nesi, H. (1999) "A user’s guide to electronic dictionaries for language learners", International Journal of Lexicography, 12 (1) 55 - 66

Peters, A. M. (2007). The units of language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robins, R. H. (2000). General Linguistics (Ed.4). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

Sinclair, J. M. (2004). How to use corpora in second language teaching. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Sadeghi, K. (2009, spring). Collocational differences between L1 and L2: Implications for EFL learners and teachers.Teslcanada journal, 26 (2), Retrieved April 21, 2012 from http://journals.sfu.ca/tesl/index.php/tesl/article/viewFile/417/247

Wallace, M. J. (1982). Teaching Vocabulary. London: Heinemann Educational Books.

Webb, S., &Kagimoto, E (2010). Learning Collocations: Do the Number of Collocates, Position of the Node Word, and Synonymy Affect Learning? Oxford Journals, Humanities, Applied Linguistics, 32(3), 259-276.Oxford University Press.

Webb, S. 2007. ‘The effects of repetition of vocabulary knowledge,’ Applied Linguistics 28:46-65.

Downloads

Published

2015-10-31

How to Cite

Effect of Electronic Dictionary as an ICT Tool on English Collocation Learning of EFL Learners. (2015). Asian Journal of Education and E-Learning, 3(5). https://ajouronline.com/index.php/AJEEL/article/view/3095

Similar Articles

1-10 of 95

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.