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…)