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The impact of E-dictionary strategy training on EFL class
Abstract
The present study attempts to clarify how effective strategy training has been with pocket electronic dictionaries for non-English major EFL learners in an English reading class. The study was designed on the basis of the results of my previous study (LET Kansai Chapter Collected Papers 15:109–119, 2015), which concluded that the reading task with dictionary strategy training for 10 weeks might positively affect the participants’ attitude to leaning, and also the dictionary strategies and reference skills have been well retained. The present study, therefore, provided the participants with: (1) metacognitive tasks as an outside-class activity; (2) setting a collaborative learning environment with peer review; (3) an explicit presentation of the strategies and reference skills with a projector. The results showed that the strategies and reference skills could have been retained by the non-English majors doing these tasks. Additionally, their attitude to learning English seemed to be improved in the present study.
... The study also showed that electronic dictionaries were useful for more autonomous students and those who needed to receive more input. Koyama (2015) undertook a research study on the effect of strategy training on EFL students' use of electronic dictionaries. It was demonstrated that the attitudes of the learners were fostered after receiving strategy training on the use of electronic dictionaries. ...
... Stirling (2003) pointed out that EFL students should become more familiar with the different functions and services of electronic dictionaries. Koyama (2015) proposed that strategy training on the use of electronic dictionaries can foster students' attitudes and improve their performance and learning. Mohamad, Rashid, and Mohamad (2017) stressed that EFL teachers should become aware of the use of electronic dictionaries in EFL contexts and receive the required instruction for the proper inclusion of electronic dictionaries in their teaching practices and lesson plans. ...
... EFL teachers can include the use of electronic dictionaries in their lesson plans and train students on how to use electronic dictionaries for the purposes of language learning. This finding is consistent with previous research highlighting the significant role of training provided by teachers for EFL students in order to use electronic dictionaries efficiently (Chen, 2006;Dashtestani, 2013;Koyama, 2015). More importantly, EFL teachers' knowledge of how to make proper use of electronic dictionaries is a pre-requisite of training students. ...
The use of electronic dictionaries for learning English vocabulary items has attracted tremendous attention recently (Dashtestani, 2013). While the majority of research studies have focused on adult learners at universities, this study compared English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' and students' perspectives on students' use of electronic dictionaries at a junior high school level. Participants who took part in the questionnaire study were 211 junior high school students and 20 junior high school teachers. A total of 60 junior high school students and 4 junior high school teachers took part in the interviews as well. In general, the teachers and students had positive views about the use of electronic dictionaries for learning EFL vocabulary items, and there were both differences and similarities between the teachers' and students' attitudes. Regarding reasons for which EFL students made use of electronic dictionaries, the teachers and students perceived that the EFL teacher plays the most important role in comparison to other factors/individuals such as the family, the Internet, and students themselves. Findings also indicated that the students did not know different types of electronic dictionaries and did not make use of them frequently. Some perceived challenges, including the restrictive regulations of schools and the lack of access to the Internet and digital facilities, were identified and discussed. The findings can have implications for renewing vocabulary learning techniques and tools used by EFL teachers and students, and thus, pave the way for normalizing the use of electronic dictionaries and the implementation of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) in EFL courses for junior high school students.
... The major findings matched with those of Koyama (2015); nevertheless, there are minor discrepancies between the two investigations. The students' various majors should be given special consideration: English in Koyama (2015) and social studies in the current study. ...
... The major findings matched with those of Koyama (2015); nevertheless, there are minor discrepancies between the two investigations. The students' various majors should be given special consideration: English in Koyama (2015) and social studies in the current study. In contrast to the previous study, individuals in the current study were not necessarily motivated to learn English. ...
This scoping review studies the relationship of past translation studies to present-day lexicography. Different scholarly articles and journals about the two disciplines have been collated and meticulously studied in order to come up with a direct conclusion. It has been discovered that through the amalgamation of the articles and journals, cohesion and similarities were discovered. Translation has a strong historical background, and so is lexicography, but as the timeline between the two was separated, certain connections became vague. With the propensity for being equivocal, related articles were tediously read, and it has come to light that the relationship between translation’s history and present-day lexicography is indispensable. The derivatives of the studies that were utilized in this scoping review can definitely be of the essence to future studies and promote translation and lexicography's function in language learning. The two principles are both seen to be crucial and vital to the learning of language, thus making them strong foundations of vocabulary, meaning-making, and word adaptation and variation.
... Of the participants, 106 were female and 41 were male. The questionnaire was adapted from The Impact of E-dictionary Strategy Training on EFL Class (Koyama, 2015) (See Appendix 1). Fivepoint Likert Scales were employed in this survey. ...
E-dictionaries are widely employed by EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners and have shown significant effects on L2 learners' performance. The study tried to apply a smartphone dictionary in a two-week L2 reading practicum using Simple View of Reading (SVR) as a theoretical framework and adopted a mixed-method research approach. Students’ motivations, behaviors, and challenges were triangulated for the correlation and evaluation of the impact of a smartphone dictionary on L2 reading learners. The findings revealed the applicability of the tool in L2 reading pedagogy. However, participants generally expressed their concern with the effective use of the information provided by the dictionary. This study prompted learners and educators to re-conceptualize e-dictionary using behaviors and provide pedagogical guidance for L2 educators.
... In a study comprising 14 Japanese undergraduate students, Koyama (2015) explored the use of four e-dictionary strategies: "(1) guessing meanings from the context before actual look-ups; ...
This article examines students’ perceptions of dictionary use and training in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The needs of English as a foreign language students in terms of specific dictionary types have received little attention. This research was conducted with 48 English as a foreign language students at a public university in Costa Rica over a year. The researcher used a survey (Appendix 1) to collect students’ opinions about the role of the dictionary in their major. Data indicates that: 1) not all dictionary types are known and used by students, 2) students favor the electronic dictionary over the paper dictionary, and 3) dictionary instruction is weak despite its perceived importance by learners. These conclusions are consistent with the literature surveyed. Furthermore, students’ opinions suggest that dictionary instruction and exposure have not been adequately approached in the language educational program. These results should advance new educational policies that promote the systematic and progressive inclusion of dictionary instruction across the study plan.
... Two empirical studies performed with Japanese EFL learners as subjects regarding their search behaviors while using e-dictionaries versus print ones found no difference in the number of words searched or the time needed for a search, and no difference in retention of words was noted; however, some differences were shown between college and high school students in this area, although both high school and university students rated the e-dictionaries more highly than print ones. Finally, Koyama, (2015) studied the effectiveness of e-dictionary strategy training among non-English major students in Japanese universities and concluded that the strategies and reference skills taught to these students resulted in improved performance as well as positive attitudes toward English-language learning. ...
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional education system has been moved to alternative online solutions worldwide. This research aims to uncover the experiences of Saudi secondary school students in using electronic dictionaries as an assistive language learning tool in the Madrasati online learning platform for English. Mixed methods research is employed to understand students’ experiences, knowledge, expectations, and thoughts about the electronic dictionaries they used during the COVID-19 crisis and the sudden and unplanned movement to online teaching tools in their language learning and practices. A total of 145 male students enrolled in a secondary school in the Ar-Rass educational directorate were asked to respond to the questionnaire, and 5 of them were randomly chosen to participate in the semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that a majority of the participants dislike the dictionary currently available on the Madrasati platform. They stated that they either favored using free dictionaries available on their mobile phone app stores or other online dictionaries. They consulted their dictionaries mainly to check the meanings of the new words because as compared to other language skills, they engaged more in reading. The data showed that a majority of the students neither sought the help of their teachers about the unknown words nor their friends. They also thought that the pandemic drastically altered their style of learning. Data also showed some disadvantages, difficulties, and concerns of using electronic dictionaries during the virtual classes through Madrasati.
... One of the participants also explained that their perceived disadvantage of using electronic dictionaries was the problem of not retaining information about words for long. This finding, noteworthily, corroborates the results of Koyama (2015), which indicated that despite the reduction in dictionary users' look-up times, using electronic dictionaries has no guarantee regarding the degree of retention of the words looked up compared to paper dictionaries. ...
Dictionaries of all types are an indispensable tool for both professional and trainee translators. However, the literature on trainee translators indicates that the skills associated with dictionary use have not been given the required attention. Knowing which dictionaries to use and how to use them efficiently when engaged in the translation process are significant aspects of translation pedagogy. In fact, facilitating the development of effective dictionary use helps develop translation competence in general. Therefore, the present article reports on a qualitative case study of successful translation students’ usage of and preferences for various types of dictionaries. The results show that successful trainee translators use dictionaries to locate synonyms or better translations for target words. Successful translation students are also reported to use dictionaries frequently to check spelling. Most respondents reported consulting the dictionary after they finished reading source texts. In line with the global move toward digitalization, the participants reported using electronic dictionaries with significantly greater frequency than paper dictionaries. In most cases, successful translation students’ use of paper dictionaries was limited to classroom examinations. The open-ended interview questions also helped to reveal the variety of dictionaries used by this group of trainee translators. Taken together, these findings have utility for translation instructors, particularly regarding the improvement of trainee translators’ experiences and the provision of assistance to less successful students.
... Past studies revealed that L2 learners exposed to authentic reading materials experience significant progress in VLS use (Sun et al., 2016;Arozaq et al., 2017;Schwartz et al., 2017). For instance, when they encountered new words while reading an article written in the target language, students would adopt a series of strategies such as looking up new words in dictionaries, consulting their teachers, and guessing the meanings of new words (e.g., Currie and Cain, 2015;Koyama, 2015;Graves et al., 2018). Gu (2018) used think-aloud protocols and interviews in her study of Chinese university learners of EFL and found that the students adopted meta-cognitive strategies, such as meta-jargon explanation, to figure out the meanings of new words when reading authentic texts. ...
This longitudinal study investigated how different mediums of word explanation affected the use of English vocabulary strategies among Chinese Grade-7 students. 170 students were tested on their English receptive vocabulary size and vocabulary strategy application before and after an 8.33-month intervention. Students were divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The three experimental groups were provided with learning materials that explained the target vocabulary in three mediums, respectively: English-only, English-and-Chinese, and Chinese-only. Results showed that, after the intervention, receptive vocabulary size did not have any direct significant impact on vocabulary strategy development, whereas mediums of word explanation materials impacted students’ application of vocabulary learning strategies (VLS) in different ways. Our findings showed that the English-only mediums significantly enhanced students’ use of metacognition, cognition, and memorization strategies, but decreased social strategy development. Chinese-only mediums significantly facilitated cognition and memorization strategy development. Implications for L2 vocabulary education are discussed.
... The effectiveness of electronic dictionaries has also been reported in improving other aspects of language learning like reading (Koyama, 2015), writing (Chon, 2008), pronunciation (Metruk, 2017), etc. However, most of these studies have focused only on the advantages of EDs compared with paper dictionaries. ...
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of various online techniques (word reference, media, and vocabulary games) on reading comprehension as well as vocabulary comprehension and production. For this purpose, 60 language learners were selected and divided into three groups, and each group was randomly assigned to one of the treatment conditions. In the first session of treatment, a vocabulary test was administered as the pretest of the study. During treatment, the language learners in those three groups were instructed through online vocabulary games, online media along with transcript and online word reference. At the end of the treatment, a reading comprehension test, a vocabulary comprehension, and a vocabulary production test were given as the posttests. The collected data were analyzed using three one-way ANOVA procedures. The results showed that the online media group outperformed the other groups. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that different online tools may have differential effects on learning different aspects of language. This implies that adhering to any single online tool may not necessarily bring about desirable results. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that teachers need to make use of a combination of these tools.
Amidst a plethora of materials available for learning English as a second or foreign language, the place of dictionary has not been defined adequately. The potential of dictionaries as source of information about language pertaining to vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and spellings is generally underestimated. While the use of primary teaching materials like textbooks may be maximized or minimized depending on the context, the scant use of a dictionary is common to most of the language classrooms around the world. The ‘taken-for-granted’ approach towards dictionaries has made its use recede to the background in the language curriculum. Reasons like time constraints, the teacher’s lack of training or expertise, non-affordability or lack of resources etc. could also be cited in favour of the usual neglect of this teaching-learning aid. However, with the recent splurge in the use of mobile devices for language learning, the place of dictionaries is being redefined in the language learning process due to factors like portability, freedom of time and place, flexibility of usage, and social connectivity. The present article is an attempt to explore and uncover a range of features offered by mobile dictionaries that could potentially foster language learning. The focus of study and observations will be the online version of Oxford Learner’s Dictionary since it incorporates the printed version and provides additional learner-centred resources. The use of this dictionary is looked at as an opportunity to be utilized in order to strengthen linguistic and communicative competence of the learners.
Two empirical studies were conducted in which the differences in Japanese EFL learners' look-up behavior between hand-held electronic dictionaries (EDs) and printed dictionaries (PDs) were investigated. We focus here on the relation between learners' look-up frequency and degree of reading comprehension of the text. In the first study, a total of 34 college students were divided into two groups. Each group was assigned a reading task with a quiz under two conditions: ED and PD. The frequency of looked-ups, the time the students needed for the task, and the quiz scores in each condition were statistically examined. The results showed: (a) the subjects in the ED condition looked up more words to comprehend the texts in a shorter period of time than those in the PD group and (b) no significant difference in the quiz scores between the groups. To further investigate these results under different conditions, a second study was performed with 31 university students whose English proficiency levels were higher than those in the first study. Despite the fact that the subjects and the text used in the second study were different, the results of the second study corresponded to the first. These findings indicate that, although EDs might enhance EFL learners' look-up behaviors, the increased look-up frequency does not necessarily ensure improvement in learners' reading comprehension. Some pedagogical implications are suggested based on the findings.
Cambridge Core - ELT Applied Linguistics - Learning Vocabulary in Another Language - by I. S. P. Nation
