The Advent of Electronic Dictionaries in ESL/EFL Learning

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Have you ever taught a class of ESL/EFL students who worship their dictionaries? Or had one of those days when the beeping sound of an electronic dictionary steals classroom attention for that one crucial moment during the lesson? To make matters worse, some of these dictionaries have ring tones and other unnecessary sound effects that amplify the distractions.

From the Students' perspective

In countries like China and Japan where electronic dictionaries are increasingly popular among EFL students, a teacher soon notices that intermediate level English students quickly head for their dictionaries every time they come across new vocabulary. This is understandable because at the intermediate levels of ESL/EFL learning especially, students are always concerned about vocabulary development.

With the advent of highly portable electronic dictionaries the inconvenience of carrying cumbersome paperback dictionaries is almost non-existent; therefore teachers are seeing more electronic dictionaries in the classroom. These days it is not uncommon to have mobile phones with electronic ielts vocabulary pdf installed inside. Most of these dictionaries are equally equipped with speakers and earpieces. While this new technology is brilliant, it can also be very detrimental to students' learning especially during lessons.

Furthermore, most ESL/EFL students carry dictionaries that simply translate words from English to their native language and vice-versa. They often think it is the fastest way to learn new vocabulary.

Students do not realize that learning new vocabulary by translating actually slows down the learning process. Of course translation is always an easy way out; but also the grammar and translation methods of learning ESL/EFL are not the fastest means of mastering new language inputs. Hence the tendency to "um...", "uh..." and forget new words learnt by such means never leaves.

From a Teacher's Perspective

For a teacher in the classroom, this can be frustrating. Most often, trying to get the students off their dictionaries frustrates the teacher even further, because they soon go back to the dictionary the next time they hear a new word. This might dampen a teacher's confidence as it might suggest that students are attaching more importance to their dictionaries than to the teacher. It can also mean that students don't have confidence in their teacher's ability to explain new vocabulary. From another perspective this might be a pointer to the fact that the teacher needs to teach the students more vocabulary acquisition skills.

Generally speaking, dictionaries should be the last point of reference for new words and expressions. We should always remember that 70-80% of all language can be communicated non-verbally. Figuring out meaning in a more contextual set up is more effective in learning and teaching of new language. Looking up the meaning of a new word should be a very brief and less frequent activity. Teachers should try to get students to explain new vocabulary in their own words after having explained the new word to them.