Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2025
DOI:
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The Use of Dictionaries by Saudi EFL Students Across Educational Level and University Major
Prof. Mofareh Alqahtani
ABSTRACT:
This study examined the use of dictionary by Saudi EFL learners at high school and university level in Saudi Arabia. The subjects are 100 male Saudi students learning English at two levels of education: high school, and university and three different majors at university (English major, medicine and non-medicine) and a range of levels of vocabulary proficiency.
Three research methods were used to achieve the aim of the study. First, a questionnaire was used with questions regarding different items related to dictionary use. The questionnaire respondents were asked to report their use of dictionary on a five-point scale. The second method was semi-structured interview which aimed to support the questionnaire data.
The analysis of the questionnaire revealed that University students use dictionaries more than high school students. E-A bilingual dictionary is reported to be used more frequently than the other types of dictionaries. Moreover, the results showed that meaning was the prime purpose of dictionary use. There was a lower use of dictionary for speaking and listening than reading and writing. The traditional dictionary was used more than the hand held electronic dictionaries, CD-Rom and online dictionaries. Furthermore, the majority of subjects did not receive any sort of training on dictionary use. Significant differences in terms of educational level, VL, and major were found in the use of the dictionary. Medicine students were found to use DUS while reading and hand-held electronic dictionary more than other groups.
keywords: Dictionary use