Reading English as a foreign language with an electronic dictionary: An exploratory study of the processes of L2 classroom reading by L1 Hebrew speaking college students in Israel

Bilingual electronic dictionary (ED) use has become a common phenomenon in tertiary English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classes in Israel and elsewhere. Although the ED is ubiquitous in the classroom, teachers are uninformed about this student initiated language learning technology.The aim of this study was to better understand the phenomenon of electronic dictionary use in EAP college reading. Data was collected using two main methodologies, a questionnaire and video filming. The questionnaire survey was carried out (N = 163) in order to define the language situation within the discourse community of the college. This survey of dictionary ownership, preference and use shows that EDs are owned (72%), used regularly (65%) and preferred (54%) by the students in this discourse community. Furthermore, these students (82.6%) believe that they read better or much better using a dictionary.Video filming was used to record the ED use of six L1 Hebrew speaking EAP college students reading an authentic academic text and answering comprehension questions. EDs were found to be an integral and vital part of the reading process for these students. ED use aided in solving problems of lexical uncertainty. On the other hand, ED use was also the source of user difficulty. These difficulties arose from the users' lack of the metalinguistic knowledge necessary to exploit the ED to best advantage or from deficiencies of the EDs themselves (e.g., missing entries and missing meanings).Although the data highlight the fact that readers are individuals, each with a different reading style, it has been possible to generalize the reading behavior of the participants into three groups: decisive readers, compensatory readers and disoriented readers. These profiles of L2 readers using an ED are described.Previous research into dictionary use has studied either the products of the use (e.g., test results) or has used methods to investigate the process that distort the process (e.g., verbal report). Through video recording, it was possible to observe when and how readers used their EDs as they performed a reading task. This observation has offered insights that have not been available through any previously used research method.