The Effectiveness of Dictionary Examples in Decoding: The Case of Kuwaiti Learners of English

  • Hashan Al-Ajmi Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Keywords: ARABIC, BILINGUAL DICTIONARY, COMPREHENSION, EFL DICTIONARY, ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE, MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARY, TRANSLATION

Abstract

Abstract: This study tries to shed light on the role of dictionary examples in the comprehension of word meanings. An experimental procedure has been devised whereby two groups of students with English as major subject at Kuwait University were asked to provide the Arabic equivalents for ten English headwords. The first group was given a list of entries for these words copied from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) while the second group had to read the same list but without illustrative examples. Results indicate that the students' decoding performance was negatively affected by the presence of illustrative examples in the dictionary entry.Keywords: ARABIC, BILINGUAL DICTIONARY, COMPREHENSION, EFL DICTIONARY,ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE, MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARY, TRANSLATIONOpsomming: Die doeltreffendheid van woordeboekvoorbeelde by dekodering:Die geval van Koeweiti-aanleerders van Engels. Hierdie studie probeer ligwerp op die rol van woordeboekvoorbeelde by die verstaan van woordbetekenisse. 'n Eksperimentelemetode is ontwerp waarby twee groepe studente met Engels as hoofvak by die Universiteit vanKoeweit gevra is om Arabiese ekwivalente vir tien Engelse trefwoorde te verskaf. Aan die eerstegroep is 'n lys inskrywings van hierdie woorde oorgeneem uit die Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary(OALD) gegee, terwyl die tweede groep dieselfde lys moes lees, maar sonder verduidelikendevoorbeelde. Resultate het aangedui dat die studente se dekoderende prestasie negatiefbeïnvloed is deur die teenwoordigheid van verduidelikende voorbeelde in die woordeboekinskrywing.Sleutelwoorde: ARABIES, TWEETALIGE WOORDEBOEK, BEGRIP, EVT-WOORDEBOEK,VERDUIDELIKENDE VOORBEELD, EENTALIGE WOORDEBOEK, VERTALING
How to Cite
Al-Ajmi, H. (1). The Effectiveness of Dictionary Examples in Decoding: The Case of Kuwaiti Learners of English. Lexikos, 18. https://doi.org/10.5788/18-0-474
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Artikels/Articles