Constructing English-English Dictionary Exercises to Enhance the Writing Ability of Second Year English Major Students

Abstract

          The aims of this research were to 1) study the problems found when using English-English dictionary 2) construct the English-English dictionary exercises based on the efficiency criteria of 75/75 and 3) compare the writing ability of students before and after the use of English-English dictionary exercises. The samples were 20 second year English-major students who enrolled in the Pre Intermediate English Writing course. The instruments used in this research were the pre test  and post test of English writing ability and the questionnaire of problems found when using the English-English dictionary. Statistics involved were mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage and t test. The results of this research were as follows: 1) Problems found from using the English-English dictionary were as follows: (1) The frequency of the inability to understand the meaning of definition and vocabularies was found 30 (29.70%) (2) The frequency of inconvenience of taking the English-English dictionary was 19 (18.81%). (3) The frequency of time-consuming was 17 (16.83%). (4) The frequency of taking other types of dictionary such as tablets or an English-Thai dictionary was 14 (13.86%) and the frequency of the lack of English-English dictionary practice skill was 14 (13.86%). (5) The frequency of the difficulty of understanding symbols and abbreviations was 7 (6.93).  2) The efficiency criteria of the English-English dictionary exercises was 76.69/78.85 3) After taking the English-English dictionary exercises, students’ writing ability in 4 aspects (noun, verb, adjective and adverb) was higher at .01 level of significance.