Abstract

Learning a new language entails multiple challenges and involves use of all resources available to achieve fruitful results. Hence, this thesis investigates the acquisition of vocabulary by means of both digital and printed dictionaries as well as the knowledge students may experience by using them. For this purpose, we have carried out research among Swedish upper secondary school pupils of Spanish as a foreign language. The pupils participating were divided into two groups as to make a comparative study as well as a self-study, as their own teachers conducted the research. The study is carried out from a sociocultural perspective based on both Vygotskij’s theory on the Zone of Proximal Development and Jerome Bruner’s idea on scaffolding, where students help each other to learn.

The results show that using a digital dictionary is quicker and more effective in finding the meaning of words whereas a printed dictionary is more complicated, takes more time and that it is more difficult to find the appropriate translation. 

Moreover, the results for both groups point to the lack of lexical knowledge in their own mother tongue to the degree of having difficulty in differentiating word classes.

Consequently, our thesis suggests a deeper knowledge of various strategies in vocabulary learning in a foreign language to be used with pupils as well as a broader collaboration between language teachers.