Dictionary Use and Vocabulary Learning in the Context of Reading

This empirical study attempts to explore the role of dictionary use in L2 vocabulary learning in reading context. It involved the use of English-Chinese bilingualized dictionaries (BLDs) for EFL vocabulary task completion and incidental vocabulary acquisition by undergraduate English majors in Chinese universities. The subjects were asked to read an English passage and perform a reading task under one of three conditions: with the aid of a paper BLD (PBLD) or an electronic BLD (EBLD), or without access to any dictionary. After task completion, they were given an unexpected retention test on the target lexical items included in the reading passage. The same retention test was repeated one week later. The study found that BLD use can effectively facilitate vocabulary comprehension and enhance incidental vocabulary acquisition, suggesting that dictionary use is a more effective strategy of vocabulary learning than contextual guessing. There was no significant difference in dictionary effectiveness between the PBLD and the EBLD, yet the latter showed some advantage over the former for vocabulary retention. Students varying on vocabulary proficiency levels and reading conditions fared differently on incidental vocabulary acquisition.