The Effect of Electronic Dictionaries and Hypermedia Annotations on English Major Students' Reading Compression and Vocabulary Learning

Abstract

This study explored the effect of using electronic dictionaries and hypermedia annotations on university students' receptive language skills, specifically reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. The subjects of the study consisted of 43 English major students who registered for the Reading One course at Taibah University in the second semester of the 2012-2013 academic year. The group was divided into two sections: section one was assigned as an experimental group, and section two was assigned as a control group. Data was collected over the course of twelve weeks via a pre/post test designed for an equivalent group. The results of the study indicated that students who were taught using electronic dictionaries and hypermedia annotation applications had better results than those who were taught using traditional methods. The researcher concluded that multimedia could facilitate students' learning of vocabulary and improve receptive language skills since they motivate and involve students in the teaching process. Accordingly, English departments at universities should accompany the main reading comprehension textbooks with instructions on how to utilize multimedia applications that render the teaching process more effective and successful. Specifically, this study demonstrates the benefits of multimedia instructional technology on students’ reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition. The results suggest that teachers may want to consider the merits of multimedia as a means of enhancing students’ reading comprehension.