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(Koren, 1997). However, it may be difficult for a student with insufficient vocabulary
to understand an MLD entry that contains unknown words, which makes the whole
lookup process time-consuming and even frustrating for low-level learners, especially
if understanding the entry requires looking up other entries which, in turn, contain
more unknown words.
1.4.3.3. Bilingualized Dictionary Use as an Alternative Solution
A recent development in dictionary making is the ‘bilingualized dictionary’, or
also known as the ‘hybrid dictionary’. The basic principle in a bilingualized
dictionary is that it uses both the source and target language to explain meaning; the
term ‘bilingualized’ conveys the idea that the dictionary is in fact an adaptation of a
monolingual dictionary (Lew, 2004). As such, the bilingualized dictionary could be an
alternative to monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. See Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Sample entries from an English-English-Arabic bilingualized dictionary
37
As seen in Figure 2, the great benefit of a bilingualized dictionary for L2
learners lies in the fact that they integrate L2 definitions with the learners’ mother
tongue equivalents (Lew, 2004). Lew (2004, p. 13) cited a publisher’s description of
the advantage behind bilingualized dictionaries as follows:
Surprisingly, despite their perceived benefits for L2 learners, relatively little
research examining the use of bilingualized dictionaries could be found in the field.
Hartmann, for instance (as cited in Thumb, 2002), examined 28 EFL learners’
attitudes towards using bilingualized dictionaries while engaged in a reading activity.
He found that 19 subjects read both L1 and L2 information in the dictionary, while
two others read the L1 information and eight the L2 information only. When
interviewed, the subjects said that the combined presentation of L2 and L1
information in one entry was a motivational factor for their reading.
By providing a brief equivalent in the language of the learner, the
dictionary incorporates the useful features of both monolingual and
bilingual dictionaries, while avoiding their drawbacks. The learner can
immerse in the English language, with active support from the mother
tongue. In this way the dictionary user is encouraged to read the
information in English, whereas the translation serves to provide
psychological reassurance, to reinforce understanding, and to correct
misunderstanding when it arises.
38
Likewise, Laufer and Melamed (1994) compared monolingual, bilingual, and
bilingualized dictionaries regarding their effectiveness on the comprehension of
words and on the production of new sentences using these words
.
The subjects were
76 high school students and 46 university EFL students in the Zionist Entity
.
They
first looked up 15 low-frequency words in dictionaries, took a multiple-choice test to
verify their comprehension of the words, and then were asked to use them to compose
new sentences
.
Laufer and Melamed found that bilingualized dictionary use not only
induced significantly better comprehension scores than MLD and BLD did ( p = .02
and p = .008 respectively), but also proved more effective for writing than the MLD
(p = .006)
.
Moreover, Laufer and Kimmel’s (1997) study was mainly interested in
knowing the entry part that high school learners read in a bilingualized dictionary to
cope with unknown words. Laufer and Kimmel found that their subjects exhibited
various lookup patterns according to their personal preferences. Some opted for only
one part of an entry, whether monolingual or bilingual, whereas others read the whole
entry information (13%). Interestingly, some subjects preferred to look up some
words in one language and other words in the other language.
Although reading the whole bilingualized entry was not common in their study
(13%), Laufer and Kimmel (1997) argued for the effectiveness of the bilingualized
dictionary for L2 learning. Their argument is that both L1 and L2 are involved in the
bilingualized dictionary, and thus it offers a variety of lookup patterns. Learners could
39
consult any language they want for any words they prefer, depending on their
personal choice.
The studies discussed earlier have to some extent revealed L2 learners’ use of
bilingualised dictionaries by exploring their attitudes on the effectiveness of the
bilingualised dictionary and their use of bilingualised entries. However, research is
needed to arrive at a better understanding in this regard.
Conclusion
This chapter has provided an account of the reading process as well as the
contribution of vocabulary to L2 text understanding. Particularly, researchers seem to
agree that at least 98% of text lexical knowledge is prerequisite to enable full
comprehension. In addition, despite some researchers’ and teachers’ negative
perceptions, the literature emphasizes dictionaries as important tools for L2 learning
and mainly for reading
.
Moreover, and as has been discussed, both MLDs and BLDs have advantages
and drawbacks, and this makes it difficult to favor one type of dictionary at the
expense of the other. However, most L2 learners were found to depend on BLDs
regardless of the perceived disadvantages that are associated with their use
.
Interestingly, in order to bridge the gap between the two types of dictionaries, the
bilingualized dictionary was introduced to L2 learners to aid them in reading
comprehension.
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