Learning and Retaining New Vocabularies: The Case of Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionaries

Transcription

1 Learning and Retaining New Vocabularies: The Case of Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionaries Mohsen Mobaraki Assistant Professor, University of Birjand, Iran *Amin Saed Lecturer, Chabahar Maritime University, Iran *Corresponding author: Abstract The present research aims at measuring the effects of using bilingual and monolingual dictionaries as well as pictures regarding the retention and recalling new vocabulary items. To this end, eighty intermediate Iranian students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) were selected as the participants of the study. To determine the homogeneity of the participants Preliminary Placement Tests (PET) was administered and sixty students were selected and divided into three groups each using a different kind of the above-mentioned techniques. For that purpose, the students were given 14 passages of intermediate selectreadings book in 14 sessions. Each group was supposed to read the passage and look up the meaning of the underlined words through using one technique.the results indicate that the group that used pictures had a better performance on recalling and retaining the underlined words. The research concluded that using pictures as a tool for learning vocabulary items plays a more significant role. Keywords: Bilingual dictionary, monolingual dictionary, picture dictionary, vocabulary retention, vocabulary recall. Page 774

2 I. Introduction There has been considerable debate during the last several decades regarding child and adult vocabulary learning to find a way for using the most significantstrategy in this regard through the data gathered from the learners in this domain. Although syntax and background knowledge play a very crucial role in second language learning, it is not that important as the one played by vocabulary considered as a component of reading comprehension (Laufer, 1997).Facing an unknown word not to be inferred from context, the learners can either ignore it or consult a dictionary. Research shows that learners use dictionaries excessively though they adopt different strategies for using it based on a number of variables (Gu& Johnson, 1996; Holstein, 1993; Zhang, 2001).Different second language methodologies adopt different strategies regarding the effectiveness of using dictionaries. As an example, reading instructors following traditional grammar-translation method focus on decodingtexts whereas current communicative practices focus on obtainingthe meaning of unknown words from context (Grabe&Stoller, 2004; Knight, 1994; Laufer, 1997) and ignore using dictionaries altogether in the reading classroom (Bensoussan, Sim, & Weiss, 1984). * According to Luppescu& Day (1993), teachers rarely rely on empirical evidence regarding the use of dictionaries. On the other hand, researchers have recently highlighted the usefulness of using dictionaries. Both using and not using dictionaries have been taken into account while the learners scores on post reading vocabulary and comprehension have been under investigation (Bogaards, 1998; Knight, 1994; Luppescu& Day, 1993; Summers, 1988). More proficient learners showed little or no gain when using dictionaries in the studies by Bensoussan et al. and Knight, indicating that the extra time used to look up words was used inefficiently. One concern is that the time it takes to look up words interferes with readers short-term memory and prevents them from focusing on the text as a whole. In addition, learners with access to dictionaries sometimes locate the wrong dictionary entry; leading to miscomprehension.the results of these contrasting studies indicated that dictionary use can enable comprehension. Therefore, the question raised here is what type of dictionary will improve learners vocabulary. This study tends to emphasize what type of dictionary is needed to enhance vocabulary learning. Specifically, it will be considered under what circumstances unknown lexical items should be looked up, as opposed to using other strategies such as ignoring words or trying to infer meaning from context. To define and describe selective dictionary use, the relevant literature concerning vocabulary learning will be analyzed. Moreover, the present research describes an experimental study on the type of dictionary Iranian learners of English use and then elicits which type of dictionary is more effective concerning improving vocabulary learning. There are many ways to deal with unknown words but using dictionary is a conventional way in both first and second language learning, Marckwardt (1973), for example, comments: Dictionaries often supply information about the language not found elsewhere.dictionaries often supply information about grammar, usage, status, synonymdiscrimination, application of derivative affixes, and distinctions between spoken and written English not generally treated in textbooks, even in a rudimentary fashion (cited in Bensoussan, Sim& Weiss, 1984, p. 263). Page 775

3 II. Review of the related literature Dictionaries are considered as one of the most vital learning instruments. Rizo-Rodriguesz (2004) asserts that dictionaries as well as grammatical studies are two useful tools helping teaching and learning English. 1. Different types of dictionaries Each major has its own special kind of dictionary covering all subject matters in the field. Moreover, for some majors more than one dictionary can be found. As quoted in The History ofdictionary, Britannica Encyclopedia(2007, p. 19) dictionaries are categorized according to difficulty level namely abridged and unabridged ones.they can also include those related to biography and history, real and fictitious, general and special, relating to outstanding countries and their peoples. They can also include those related to philosophy, mathematics, natural history, zoology, botany; of chemistry, geology, architecture, painting and music; of medicine, etc. Although there are different kinds of dictionaries related to different subjects, these dictionaries cannot be used interchangeably and the meaning of the words and symbols used in the text cannot be easily conveyed. Littman, (2006) recommends an idea to tackle with this problem: As the dictionaries get more difficult, you should also get more information to help you more fully understand the word you are looking up. The ideal dictionary would communicate all the information you need to know to fully understand the usage and use of the very few words and symbols that you have to look up. In Yorio's (1971) and Bensoussan et al (1984) study, when students are free for choosing types of dictionaries more than half of them are interested in using bilingual ones. Yorio (1971) concludes that although frequently inaccurate or misleading, the bilingual dictionary seems to give them security of a concrete answer, while the monolingual dictionary often forces them to guess the meaning, adding more doubts to the already existing ones. Another study conducted by Hayati and Fattahzadeh(2006) came to the conclusion that dictionarytype has no significant effect on learners' vocabulary recall and retention.some researchers have supported the contribution of monolingual dictionaries to vocabulary learning. Underhill (1985) states that appropriate treating of the words in monolingual dictionaries is based on their frequency.baxter (1980) claims that the good point of a monolingual dictionary is that it provides the way a word is used in a context and helps students to produce definitions for the new words. He believes that the instructor should make students aware of the fact that using a monolingual dictionary can promote their fluency; on the contrary, a bilingual dictionary just offers a single word for the source language word while the students are totally unaware of how that word should be used in the real context. So far, with consideration to the above-mentioned discussions, this article attempts to analyze the effects of using three kinds of dictionaries to find out which one has the most effect on retaining and recalling new vocabularies. To this end, the following question is raised. Page 776

4 2. Research question: Which of the three types of dictionaries can most effectively improve the learners retaining and recalling the vocabularies? III. Methodology Eighty EFL learners were asked to participate in this study. They were from both genders, in the range of 18 to 22. To determine the homogeneity of the participants PET was administered. This test comprises of two parts, namely, reading and writing. Since the present study deals with the role of vocabulary learning related to reading skill, the writing part of the PET was totally omitted. This test consists of three different subcategories as reading comprehension, cloze test, and grammar; and based on the participants scores sixty out of the eighty participants were selected as the subjects of the present research. The participants were divided into three groups of twenty, each providing with one of the three different techniques for retaining and recalling vocabularies, namely monolingual dictionary, bilingual dictionary, and a list of related pictures. The data were collected for three months and half having two sessions per week. In order to catch the participants attention, Text Enhancement (TE) technique was used in the passages. According to Zyzik (cited in Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics: 2010), this technique involves the use of boldface, italics, or other typographical alterations (e.g., underlining, highlighting) that are designed to promote noticing of the target language form.they were given one reading passage per session and some words in the text were underlined.two types of dictionaries including monolingual and bilingual ones as well as the pictures were represented separately for each group. The passages were selected from intermediate select readingsbook. The classes were held twice a week. In the first session, the participants were supposed to find the equivalents of the underlined words through using one of the above-mentioned techniques. For the groupusing pictures, the researcher would provide them with the related pictures on a separate sheet. The next session the three groups were given a test consisting of those underlined words to measure the amount of retention and recalling the vocabularies. This method was repeated for three months and half and the data were gathered from their tests. IV. Data collection procedure The data were collected longitudinally once a week during three months and half. As already mentioned, in every week two sessions were held. In the first session, a reading passage from one unit of Intermediate Select Readings book was given to the students. Some words which were supposedly difficult for the students to know the meanings were underlined. In addition, monolingual and bilingual dictionaries as well as pictures related to the underlined words were given to the learners. Each group was provided with one of the following dictionaries, namely, monolingual dictionary, bilingual dictionary, and some related pictures, respectively. The time devoted for answering the questions raised on the basis of the given reading passage was twenty minutes. The next session a test consisting of ten underlined words was administered and the learners were asked to answer the underlined words using the dictionaries allowed to. The scores each of the groups obtained were recorded every single session. This procedure repeated for the other weeks as well and the results were recorded separately.table 1 shows the percentage of correct vocabularies produced by each group. Page 777

5 Table 1 shows the mean of correct vocabulary production of each group. Table 1.The mean of correct vocabulary production by each group Sessions Monolingual Mean Bilingual Mean Pictures Mean out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of Figure 1 shows the mean of correct vocabulary production of each group. This mean is shown in the below figure. Page 778

6 Figure 1.Mean of correct vocabulary production for each group Figure 1 1 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0 1,00 2,00 3,00 4,00 5,00 6,00 7,00 8,00 9,00 10,00 11,00 12,00 13,00 14,00 M B P Page 779

7 V. Results and discussion Having a look at Figure 1 there is no significant difference among the mean scores of correct vocabulary production by each group in the first three sessions. From Session Four on, the rate of correct vocabulary producedby monolingual and bilingual dictionaries groups is somehow the same, whereas this rate is significantly higher for the group provided with related pictures. This high retention and recalling rate for the group provided with pictures was always higher compared with the other two groups (with the exception of Session Ten). To justify the reason behind this high production and to support these findings the researchers concluded that it maybe to the fact that by increasing the difficulty level of the provided vocabularies, there is an increase in the production rate of group having the related pictures. With regard to the other two groups, although there is not much difference between these groups, at the initial state of vocabulary retaining and recalling those using the bilingual dictionary had a better performance. A brief look at the succeeding sessions shows that the superiority of bilingual dictionary fades away from Session Eight on. What comes to the mind of the researcher is that the learners gradually learned how to deal with a monolingual dictionary. They initially had little knowledge about different kinds of information this dictionary would provide them with. Getting more familiar with the abbreviations, parts of speech, usage, and structure, they gradually get used to make use of working with a monolingual dictionary. VI. Conclusion This study aimed at finding the probable priority that each of the three techniques namely using monolingual dictionary, bilingual dictionary, and pictures related to specific meaning may have over the two others with regard to retaining and recalling vocabulary items. Three homogeneous groups of 20 intermediate learners were collected based on their scores obtained in a PET. Each group was provided with one of the above-mentioned techniques. By comparing the average production rate of correct vocabulary items, the present research came to the following conclusion. First, during the first four sessions no significant difference among the three groups was noticed. It may be due to the fact that the underlined words were not that difficult to be beyond the learners vocabulary domain. As the difficulty level of the underlined words gradually increased, a high production rate of correct vocabulary items through using related pictures resulted. This means that using pictures facilitate retaining and recalling difficult words. This priority remains stable up to the end of data collection procedure. Second, the results of comparing the other two techniques show that there is a little superiority of using bilingual dictionary over the other onesduring the first eight sessions for the purpose of retaining and recalling vocabularies. This may be related to the fact that the learners did not have sufficient knowledge about using monolingual dictionary. From Session Nine on, learners showed a better performance regarding using monolingual dictionary as a result of familiarizing with abbreviations, parts of speech, structures, and usage of the dictionary considered as the most important aspect of the monolingual dictionary. Page 780

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