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Abstract
In academia, dictionaries have become a daily commodity beyond the common yet relevant uses of spelling and meaning checks. Relying on data collected from 107 EFL learners through an opinion poll in the Saudi context, this paper investigated how such learners utilize dictionaries in their English program during their university studies. Findings showed that learners use electronic and paper-based dictionaries for limited purposes beyond the spelling and meaning check. Besides surveying the dictionary type (online and paper-based), the study argues for some uses on a broader approach rather than spelling words and their meanings. It construed dictionaries as special tutors that help second language learners develop a multitude of skills, including spelling, vocabulary, grammatical usage, pronunciation, and semantic features of the target language, e.g., synonyms, antonyms, polysemy, collocations, and the like. The study theorizes the dictionary not as an add-on but as an essential language learning source of English language programs tailored to dictionary-based tasks across the curriculum to respond to sustainable language education.
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