The Effect of Monolingual and Bilingual Dictionary on the Foreign Language Learners' Acquisition

Abstract

Dictionaries have traditionally been a widely used tool by foreign and second language learners. In spite of the rejection of using dictionaries in classroom by some teachers, recent studies have showed that dictionaries play a vital role in language learning and teaching. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries on the foreign language learners' awareness and acquisition. The study seeks to investigate that monolingual dictionaries, unlike bilingual dictionaries, would promote and assist learners' acquisition. Although bilingual dictionaries are universally preferred by learners, teachers’ duty here is to encourage students to consult monolingual dictionaries during classroom since they often expose to the foreign language which is the end. Thus, the research will highlight the pros and cons of both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. It will focus on the teachers' role which is crucial on not only guiding learners how to use dictionaries, when and which type but also allocating time during classroom to encourage students to consult the dictionary in order to be familiar with this tool. Finally, the striking findings are both dictionaries have positives and negatives but the good teacher can guide his/her students to consult the appropriate one in the specific time and a suitable task in classroom. Dictionaries are not always the perfect tool used by students and teachers but there are some cases and situations teachers should take in consideration when they deal with dictionaries.