Date of Award

1-1-2000

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Languages and Linguistics

Department

-

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

A general survey of dictionary use would show that there is a tendency to agree that referring to the dictionary is a useful activity in enhancing and enriching one's vocabulary or word power, and that dictionary is a useful tool in language learning. However, the importance of introducing effective technique of dictionary use to students is neglected in the teaching and learning of language; as a matter of fact, it has been left to students to find their own way to acquire the skill. The dissertation seeks to examine how far an exposure to techniques of dictionary use can help one to become skillful in using dictionaries and in accessing the information within. The research also seeks to investigate if the mastering of the techniques of dictionary use increase language learners' performance in vocabulary based activities including language games, and help them produce grammatical and accurate sentences by applying their word power. The methodology applied to test the hypotheses of the research is experiment method. Other methods applied are direct observation, questionaires and a test. The important findings gathered from the questionaires, direct observation and the test are analysed to determine the validity of the hypotheses outlined at the beginning of the research. The research reveals that the students who have acquired the skills of using Malay monolingual dictionary i. e Kamus Dewan, through the exposure of module of using monolingual dictionary, perform better in vocabulary based activities compared to their counterparts who have not been taught the skills. Based on the positive and significant results, the researcher suggests the effective and systematic technique of dictionary use being introduced and taught to the students as part of the language curriculum.

Initial

snms

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A) -- Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Universiti Malaya, 2000

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