FLL’S Perception & Usage of Online Dictionaries

1. FLL’S Perception & Usage of Online Dictionaries Elizabeth Deifell, University of Iowa Li Jin, Ph.D., DePaul University ACTFL, November 20, 2010

2. Research Interest • What online dictionaries do learners of foreign languages use in their language learning experience? • How do learners of foreign languages use online dictionaries for reading, writing, listening, and speaking? • How do learners of foreign languages perceive the role of online dictionaries in their foreign language learning experience?

3. Literature Review • Usage of paper monolingual and bilingual dictionaries (Hartmann, 1999; Nesi, 2002) • Effectiveness of online bilingual dictionaries in L2 lexical acquisition (Hulstijn, Hollander, Greidanus, 1996; Peters, 2007); • Usage of online bilingual dictionaries (Elola, Rodriguez-Garcia, Winfrey, 2008; Lei, 2008)

4. The Study • Instrument: an open-ended online survey containing 17 questions • Participants: students from community colleges and universities with 4 years of language programs in the U.S.; • Responses: 269 completed surveys; • Data analysis methods: text analysis, constant comparison method

5. Results: Languages

6. Results: Course Enrollment

7. Results: Frequency of Using Online Dictionary

8. Results: Frequency of Using Online Dictionary

9. Results:

10. Results: What Dictionaries

11. Results: How to Access Online Dictionaries

12. Results: Purposes for Online Dictionaries

13. Results: How to Use Online Dictionaries

14. Results: How to Assist Reading • Look up new vocabulary • Double check information provided in a paper dictionary • Do online homework (PDF files)

15. Results: How to Assist Writing • Check up words • When a paper dictionary is not available • When a word cannot be found in a paper dictionary • Find translation for a string of words / idiomatic expressions • Check stroke order in kanji • Do typed assignments/email

16. Results: How to Assist Listening • Seldom use it when in a conversation • Use it when listening to a recording • Use it to check tones

17. Results: How to Assist Speaking • Seldom use it during real-time speaking • Use it to prepare for speaking • Use it for correct tones/pronunciation • Use it for conjugation

18. Results: Students’ Perception about Online Dictionaries Cons • unreliable • Students too dependent • Not a good tool for translation Pros • Fast and convenient • Helpful with pronunciation, translation for strings of words, and hyperlinks • Provide cultural contexts • Affordable

19. Results: Students’ Perception about Online Dictionaries Arabic: • Not good dictionaries Chinese: • Very useful, essential, but not rely on them French: • Very convenient, but some dictionaries are not so accurate, often wrong, lack of connotations

20. Results: Students’ Perception about Online Dictionaries German: • Very useful, very reliable, dict.leo.org provides cultural context Japanese: • Very useful, but not quite reliable Spanish: • Very useful • Good for single words, not for translation

21. Discussion and Implication 1 • Omnipresent online dictionaries , advancement of technologies, increasing online assignments; • Online dictionaries, mobile dictionaries, vs. Paper Dictionaries • Varied quality of online dictionaries • Wordreference.com • Dict.leo.org • Students’ learning habits

22. Discussion and Implication 2 • Role of dictionaries • Authoritative vs. co-constructive • Vocabulary vs. Language • Role of teachers • What shall we recommend to students? • Our view of language learning

23. Thank you very much! Feel free to contact Elizabeth Deifell at elizabeth-deifell@uiowa.edu Li Jin at ljin2@depaul.edu