Learning words from context and dictionaries: An experimental comparison

Abstract

This research investigates the independent and interactive effects of contextual and definitional information on vocabulary learning. German students of English received either a text with unfamiliar English words or their monolingual English dictionary entries. A third group of subjects were given both text and dictionary entries. Subjects used each target word in an English sentence and then translated their sentences into German. The translations showed whether students had understood the meaning of a target word and permitted the specification of comprehension strategies. Subjects who had received text and dictionary entries tended to favor the dictionary and thus performed no better than students in the other experimental groups. Subjects learning words from context replaced unfamiliar words with familiar words conforming to contextual constraints. Subjects in the dictionary group commonly substituted a relevant part of the definition for the headword. Lexical errors occurred for different reasons: substitutions in the dictionary condition were unconstrained by context; substitutions in the text condition were not sufficiently constrained by context. The study shows that information about the contexts in which words are used is crucial for acquiring an adequate understanding of word meanings.1

The Use of Dictionary and Contextual Guessing Strategies for Vocabulary Learning by Advanced English-Language Learners

“…If the topic or main idea of the text is familiar, learners have a greater possibility of correctly guessing the meaning of unknown word. Fischer (1994) contends that students who infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word generate their own equivalent meaning based on contextual cues. In addition, a dictionary provides a decontextualized meaning (Rhoder & Huerster, 2002).…”

Incidental and Intentional Learning

“…Ellis, Tanaka & Yamazaki, 1994;R. Ellis, 1995;and R. Ellis & Heimbach, 1997), oral versus written input in watching subtitled cartoon films (d 'Ydewalle & Pavakanun, 1995;Van de Poel & d'Ydewalle, 2001), reading versus writing (Hulstijn & Trompetter, 1998), glossing and/or inferencing (Cobb, 1997;Cobb & Horst, 2001); Hulstijn, 1992;Hulstijn, Hollander & Greidanus, 1996;Kost, Foss, & Lenzini Jr., 1999;Watanabe, 1997), and dictionary use (Fischer, 1994;Hulstijn, Hollander & Greidanus, 1996;Knight, 1994;Laufer & Hill, 2000). The results show a differentiated pattern, consistent with the view that it is elaboration of (Craik and Tulving, 1975), or involvement in (Laufer & Hulstijn, 2001) the lexical information being processed rather than any of these factors per se that determine retention.…”

Tipología lexicográfica en la enseñanza del inglés como segunda lengua: Hacia una descripción del uso de los diccionarios

“…La búsqueda del significado es una de las consultas más frecuentes en los diccionarios, pero es, a la vez, una de las que pueden conducir a más errores (Jain 1981;Fisher: 1994). M. P. Jain (1981) distinguió las dificultades que presentan los diccionarios monolingües en sus estructura u organización, y que en muchos casos eran fuente de errores para los alumnos en los ejercicios de producción.…”