The effect of using computerized dictionaries on EFL undergraduate students' achievement in reading comprehension

Other Title(s)

أثر استخدام القواميس المحوسبة في تحصل مهارات القراءة الاستيعابية لدى طلبة الجامعة الذين يدرسون اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أجنبية

Dissertant

Jabbur, Yusuf Tarish Hilal

Thesis advisor

Abu Suaylik, Ali Farhan

Comitee Members

Abu al-Shar, Awatif Mazal
Abd al-Fattah, Husayn
Batayinah, Ahmad H. A.

University

Al albayt University

Faculty

Faculty of Educational Sciences

Department

Department of Management and Educational Foundations

University Country

Jordan

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2010

English Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the effect of computerized dictionaries on EFL undergraduate students' achievement in reading comprehension skills.

More specifically, it attempted to answer the following questions : 1- Does using computerized monolingual dictionaries and computerized bilingual dictionaries affect EFL undergraduate students' achievement in reading comprehension skills? 2- Is there any statistically significant difference at (p.

< 0.05) in EFL undergraduate students' achievement in reading comprehension skills between the experimental group (1) and experimental group (2) due to the effect of the type of dictionary students use? The population of this study consisted of all 1st year EFL students at Al al-Bayt University / College of Arts / Department of English Language and Literature.

They are first-year in the second semester students of the academic year 2009-2010.

The total number was 219 students.

The sample of the study consisted of 110 1st year students who registered for the advanced reading course in the second semester of the academic year 2009-2010 (50.23 % of the population).

The sample of the study consisted of two sections; one section was randomly assigned as an experimental group (1) that used computerized monolingual dictionaries in studying the reading texts for eight weeks while the other was decided to be an experimental group (2) that used computerized bilingual dictionaries in studying the reading texts for the same period.

A pre-test was administered to know the actual levels of both groups before conducting the experiment.

The experimental group (1) and the experimental group (2) studied the same instructional material that included eight reading passages that were taken from the first year level advanced reading skills courses decided by the Department of English Language and Literature.

Two months later, a post-test was administered in order to investigate the effect of using computerized monolingual dictionaries and computerized bilingual dictionaries on EFL undergraduate students' achievement in reading comprehension skills, and if there was an effect, to what extent and in what dimension was that.

A reading comprehension achievement test was used as a study instrument that was validated by a jury of six experts.

The reliability of the test was 0.88.

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and T-test were applied to analyze data.

The results of the study revealed that using computerized monolingual dictionaries and computerized bilingual dictionaries had a significant effect on EFL undergraduate students' reading comprehension achievement in all the reading skills measured in the study.

There was also a statistically significant difference (p.

< 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group (1) that used computerized monolingual dictionaries and the mean scores of the experimental group (2) that used computerized bilingual dictionaries in favour of the experimental group (1) in all the reading skills measures in this study.

Based on the results of the study, the : following recommendations are suggested 1- EFL university students should be trained on how to use computerized monolingual dictionaries effectively.

EFL teachers should encourage their students to use their monolingual dictionaries in class and at home by giving them exercises and additional activities related to many types of information that they need to comprehend reading passages.

2- Similar studies are highly required to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries in foreign language learning.

3- FL researchers should be encouraged to explore the linguistic behavior of EFL undergraduate students when they use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries and the strategies they should follow in order to look-up the necessary linguistic information.

Other studies are needed to investigate the effect of using monolingual dictionaries on EFL university students' achievement in other skills and fields such as writing and grammar.

Further studies are also needed to explore the difficulties EFL university students encounter when they use their dictionaries, especially monolingual dictionaries.

4- EFL teachers should encourage their students to use monolingual dictionaries by giving them exercises and additional activities related to many types of information that they need in comprehending reading passages.

Main Subjects

Educational Sciences

Topics

• Jordan
• Education
• University education
• English Language
• Dictionaries
• Learning
• Second language acquisition

No. of Pages

129

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-310868