Online dictionaries and reading comprehension: Studying the effect of integrating online dictionaries on Saudi female EFL learners’ performance during reading comprehension

Abstract

This thesis reports on a mixed-methods research study carried out at a Saudi University. The main purpose of this research project was to investigate the effect of integrating online dictionaries on Saudi female EFL learners’ performance during reading comprehension tasks. Research in this field demonstrates that lacking adequate vocabulary knowledge is one main reason for learners’ poor performance in English reading comprehension. Consequently, it was hypothesised that integrating online dictionaries during reading tasks could provide EFL learners with vocabulary meanings which in turn would facilitate readers’ comprehension. The participants were undergraduate EFL students who recently graduated from secondary school and enrolled at the university. One hundred and two (102) Saudi Female learners at the same broad level of language proficiency with different majors were assigned to three groups, control group (A), experimental group (B) who integrated bilingual dictionaries while reading and experimental group (C) who utilized monolingual dictionaries while reading. The average age of the learners was eighteen and all these groups received instructional classes according to research design. In addition, data were collected by means of students’ questionnaires, EFL teacher interviews, student interviews to support the quantitative findings and to provide more data about Saudi female EFL undergraduate students’ background, attitudes and other related aspects. As per the design of the experiment, the participants had three reading comprehension tests (pre-reading, post-reading and delay post-reading test). The overall analysis showed that there were significant differences between participants’ scores in which the participants in the experimental group B who integrated bilingual dictionaries achieved better performance in the post reading comprehension test compared with the control group A and the experimental group C who utilized monolingual dictionary in the same test. This implies that supporting EFL learners with bilingual dictionaries during reading comprehension tasks has a positive influence on readers’ performance. Qualitative data showed that dictionaries are neglected by EFL learners and not given proper attention by EFL teachers in teaching and learning EFL. As a result, participants’ performance might be adversely affected by the lack of required skills and experience in using dictionaries to check up words and identify meanings. Furthermore, the analysis showed that Saudi female EFL learners in the present research were unmotivated, have low level of language proficiency with poor vocabulary knowledge, all of which led to poor performance in reading comprehension tests. Besides, the study indicated that the majority of the participants define the word "read" as "reading aloud" or "reciting". The conclusion suggests implications for teaching English reading comprehension, using dictionaries in EFL classes and offers recommendations for future studies.