The Effect of Computerized Bilingual Dictionaries on Incidental EFL Vocabulary Learning through Reading and Writing Tasks: An Experimental Study on Female English Majors at King Saud University

The current study investigates the effect of using two types of dictionary, computerized and printed, on the incidental vocabulary acquisition during reading and writing tasks. Sixty-eight level I and II participants from the Department of English Language and Literature at King Saud University in Riyadh take part in this study. They are divided into two major groups; reading and writing. Each group is divided into two groups; those who use computerized dictionary and those who use printed dictionary. Consequently, there are computerized dictionary reading group, printed dictionary reading group, computerized dictionary writing group and printed dictionary writing group. Participants attend six treatment sessions in which they are asked to either read or write about certain topics. Participants have the freedom to use the dictionary or not to guarantee the incidental design of the study. Two weeks later, a sudden post- test is given to all participants. The post tests are uniquely designed according to each participant’s looked up words. Two-way ANOVA test is used to analyze the data collected. The findings of the study indicate that there is no significant effect of the type of the dictionary on the incidental vocabulary acquired [p= .13 > .005]. On the other hand, there is a significance effect of the skill (i.e. reading and writing) on the incidental vocabulary acquired [p= .00 < .005]. The participants in the writing groups benefited the most and acquired significant vocabulary. The results also reveal that those who use computerized dictionary during writing gain more vocabulary than the other groups