#54, Worldwide ELT Events
BELGRADE: ELTA IATEFL CONFERENCE MAY 2010 JERUSALEM: ETAI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE July 2010 UNITY AND DIVERSITY: LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CUBA, June-July 2010 EFL AND ART: LEARNING WITH ALL OUR SENSES INGED…
#54, Research Paper: ‘Plain Levels of Strategy in Vocabulary Studies’ by A. Ramesh Babu
Abstract:
To language acquisition, learner should take vocabulary as the first step. When the students do not find themselves comfortable with L2, language learning can be made interactive and interesting with the introduction of appropriate vocabulary exercises. The present approach to the teaching of vocabulary in schools and colleges is far from satisfactory. In teaching and learning process, there are many defects that show the learners do not bag many words. Of course some times it is the students’ mistake that they do not read papers and other books to obtain more words. Is it much uncomplicated to teach vocabulary to the students? Teaching words is not an easy task. An average teacher may spend a considerable time in teaching words alone, yet it remains doubtful whether the student has understood the vocabulary taught. This paper gives a detailed explanation of the various methodologies that can be incorporated in the teaching of vocabulary items in a language classroom.
To language acquisition, learner should take vocabulary as the first step. When the students do not find themselves comfortable with L2, language learning can be made interactive and interesting with the introduction of appropriate vocabulary exercises. This paper gives a detailed explanation of the various methodologies that can be incorporated in the teaching of vocabulary items in a language classroom. (more…)
#54, Research Paper: ‘The Effect of Monolingual, Bilingual, and Bilingualized Dictionaries on Vocabulary Comprehension and Production’ by Abbas Ali Zarei
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of monolingual, bilingual, and bilingualized dictionaries on vocabulary comprehension and production of Iranian EFL learners of English at different proficiency levels. A total number of 270 students at Tabriz Azad University (nine groups of 30 members each) participated in the study. Three groups were elementary, three intermediate, and three advanced level learners. At each level of proficiency, all the three groups were taught the same words, but each group used a different kind of dictionary. At the end of the experimental period, all three groups (at each level) received two posttests, a multiple-choice test and a fill-in-the-blank test. Six independent one-way ‘Analysis of Variance’ (ANOVA) procedures were run to compare the means of the groups on receptive and productive vocabulary tests. Results indicated that different types of dictionaries are appropriate for vocabulary comprehension and production of learners at different levels of proficiency
Key terms: monolingual – bilingual – bilingualized dictionary – vocabulary comprehension – vocabulary production
Introduction
A dictionary is amongst the first things a foreign language learner purchases (Baxter 1980), and learners carry their dictionaries around, not grammar books. But, there has been a great deal of discussion as to which dictionary type is a better educational tool for foreign learners; monolingual, bilingual or bilingualized. The question sounds simple, but the answer is not. Baxter prefers his students to use a monolingual dictionary. Snell-Hornby (1991) has a similar preference. But, Atkins (1985) believes that learners prefer L2-L1 bilingual dictionaries because they satisfy learners’ immediate needs. A fairly recent development is bilingualized or semi-bilingual dictionaries. Nakamoto (1995) states that the bilingualized dictionary combines explanations in L2 with translation equivalents. Thus, it should satisfy both language teachers who insist that foreign learners should use dictionaries of the target language and learner-users who complain that such monolingual dictionaries are too difficult. (more…)