VocaBooster

PART III

1. Online Vocabulary Learning Resources

Here is a range of platforms and websites learners can use to improve their vocabulary.

1. 1.  Dictionaries

An online dictionary is an electronic resource that lists the words of a language (typically in alphabetical order) and gives their meaning, or gives the equivalent words in a different language, often also providing information about pronunciation, origin, and usage.

 

Longman Dictionary  (https://www.ldoceonline.com/)

LDOCE Online offers free access to a range of Longman monolingual and bilingual dictionaries specifically designed for learners and teachers of English and for people who need to use English as a second language at work. Our dictionaries have integrated thesaurus, collocations, and important grammar information. Interactive vocabulary and grammar exercises help you learn synonyms, collocations, and idioms, as well as grammar at intermediate and advanced levels.

 

Figure 3: Longman Dictionary Interface

 

Cambridge Dictionary   (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ )

Cambridge University Press has been publishing dictionaries for learners of English since 1995. Cambridge Dictionaries Online began offering these dictionaries completely free of charge in 1999 — and today, Cambridge Dictionary is still growing.

 

Oxford Dictionary   (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ )

The largest and most trusted free online dictionary for British and American English learners with definitions, pictures, example sentences, synonyms, and antonyms.

 

 

 

Macmillan Dictionary   (https://www.macmillandictionary.com/)

Find meanings, pronunciations, synonyms, collocations, idioms, images, videos, and sound effects. Browse BuzzWords and the crowdsourced Open Dictionary. Improve your English with games, quizzes, and helpful resources for teachers and students.

 

Collins Dictionaries   (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/)

An unparalleled resource for word lovers, word gamers, and word geeks everywhere, Collins Online Unabridged English Dictionary draws on Collins extensive language databases. It covers many literary and rare words useful for crossword solvers, setters, and Scrabble players. Ideal for use at work and at home, new words and meanings are tracked by experienced Collins lexicographers and expert language specialists who monitor language change worldwide.

 

 

Visual Dictionary (http://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/)

 

The Visual Dictionary is designed to help you find the right word at a glance. Filled with stunning illustrations labeled with accurate terminology in up to six languages, it is the ideal language-learning and vocabulary dictionary for use at school, at home, or at work. When you know what something looks like but not what it's called, or when you know the word but can't picture the object, The Visual Dictionary has the answer. In a quick look, you can match the word to the image. The Visual Dictionary is more than a reliable resource of meticulously labeled images—it innovates by combining dictionary-scale definitions with exceptional illustrations, making it the most complete dictionary. The Visual Dictionary is an indispensable visual reference that goes beyond object identification to answer questions about function, significance, and purpose. Ideal for teachers, parents, writers, translators, and students of all skill levels, it helps the user understand a phenomenon and quickly grasp the meaning of a term, the characteristics of an object, or simply learn something new.

Figure 4: Visual Dictionary Interface

 

1. 2.  Thesaurus 

A thesaurus is a book or an electronic resource that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts.

 

Thesaurus.com  (https://www.thesaurus.com/)

Thesaurus.com provides users with over 550,000 synonyms and a suite of tools that simplify the writing process. Thesaurus.com's proprietary relevance, complexity, and length filters, introduced in the first update to any thesaurus in over 160 years, help anyone quickly find the perfect word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 5: Thesaurus.com Interface

 

 

Collins Thesaurus (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-thesaurus/analysis)

Collins English Thesaurus is a comprehensive, trustworthy, and easy-to-use online resource, and it has been researched and written by experienced lexicographers from across the globe and reflects all varieties of world English. The online thesaurus offers a treasure trove of authoritative language information, whether simply for the love of words, as the ideal solution for all good writing, for work and study, or for expressing yourself well.

Figure 6: Collins Thesaurus Interface

 

Visual Thesaurus  (https://www.visualthesaurus.com/)

The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus that allows you to discover the connections between words in a visually captivating display. With a subscription, you can access the Spelling Bee, VocabGrabber, and Online Magazine.

Figure 7: Visual Thesaurus Interface

 

1. 3.   Collocations

Collocations – pairs of words that occur regularly – are a natural part of the English language. Knowledge and natural use of collocations indicate a person's general English proficiency.  Learners often spend hours learning new vocabulary words in isolation, but finding connections between commonly used words can be of greater value.  Acquiring collocations is essential to improving English proficiency and an area teachers can focus on within the classroom.

 

 

5. OZDIC  Collocations (https://ozdic.com/)

OZDIC English Collocation Dictionary is designed to help language learners and users write and speak natural-sounding English. It provides a comprehensive guide to the most frequently used word combinations, including both common and idiomatic expressions. Your benefits of using the OZDIC :

• Enhanced accuracy and fluency: understanding collocations can help learners use the right words in the right context and communicate more effectively and accurately.
• Improved vocabulary: learners can use the dictionary to discover new vocabulary, and become familiar with common collocations in English.
• Greater understanding of English: the dictionary provides information on the nuances and subtleties of the English language, helping users to develop a deeper understanding of the language.
• Time-saving: the dictionary is organized in a user-friendly way, making it easy to find the most relevant collocations quickly, saving learners time and effort.
• Professional use: For translators, writers, and editors, the dictionary provides a valuable resource for ensuring accurate and effective use of English. Ideal for students preparing for the IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE Academic tests.

Figure 8: OZDIC  Collocations Interface

 

 

Oxford Collocations Dictionary (https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/collocations/)

The Oxford Collocations Dictionary shows you which words work together. It helps you to express your ideas naturally and convincingly and is particularly useful for writing. Look up a word to find out which words are used with it. Find word combinations for your context from the most frequently used combinations.

 

Pearson Academic Collocation List (pdf)

The Academic Collocation List (ACL), created by Pearson, contains 2,469 of the most frequent and pedagogically relevant lexical collocations in written academic English.  The list was compiled from the written curricular component of the Pearson International Corpus of Academic English (PICAE), comprising over 25 million words. In highlighting the most important cross-disciplinary collocations, the ACL can help learners increase their collocational competence and, thus, their proficiency in academic English. The ACL can also support EAP teachers in their lesson planning and serve as a tool for improving academic language development in their learners.

 

 

4. 4.   Flash Card Study Sets    Quizlet Study Sets (https://quizlet.com/)

Quizlet is a Web 2.0 tool used to study and learn vocabulary. Quizlet is a brilliant teacher-student website and online application offering seven powerful vocabulary learning tools for creating different vocabulary activities (Flashcards, Learn, Write, Spell, Test, Match, and Gravity). Quizlet, as Shehane (2015) mentioned, is an online vocabulary management system for teachers and students, and it helps them track vocabulary learning. Quizlet Co. reported that more than 50  million study sets are available on Quizlet to choose from, and over 60 million users are using Quizlet monthly. Quizlet is thought to be the world's largest online learning community for both students and teachers, and it is one of the most popular language-learning technology tools on the internet (Andarab, 2019).

Quizlet provides an attractive, user-friendly interface and various features to give learners new learning experiences. Quizlet is available on both computers and mobile devices. Learners only need to sign up through their Google account if they want, and they can search for any educational materials they want to learn. Besides, the Quizlet app is free, and users can access millions of sets made in Quizlet. Quizlet will also automatically rearrange the items within the set to avoid serial learning, providing various features for users to interact with (Barr, 2016). Quizlet has some features, i.e., Quizlet Study and Quizlet Games, that can help students study vocabulary more efficiently using Quizlet Study and Play features. Quizlet Study features are Flashcards, Learn, Write, Spell, and Test, while Quizlet Game features are Match and Gravity.

Table 2: Quizlet Learn and Play Features Summary

Category	Quizlet Activity	Description
Study	Flashcards	Self-explanatory
Study	Learn	This option includes flashcards, multiple choice entries, and typing the required answers. Users can be selective when using this feature, as they can delete any of those options
Study	Write	Users are asked to type the correct answers
Study	Spell	Users listen to the entry, and then they should type the word
Study	Test	This feature includes activities like multiple choice, matching, typing the answers, and true or false. Users can be selective when using this feature, as they can delete any of those options
Play	Match	Drag and drop to match the definition with the word or vice versa
Play	Gravity	It depends on user speed before the disappearance of the entry from the screen
Play	Live	It gives the teachers the option to sort their students into random groups in which users can compete with each other

 

 

 

 

Figure 9: Quizlet Interface

 

 

Study Stack (https://www.studystack.com/)

StudyStack is your new favorite study tool that makes learning, memorizing information, and preparing for an exam a fun, stress-free, and enjoyable experience. Our basic version is also free, which makes it all the more fun!

Use free online flashcards made by our community of students and teachers or create your own online flashcards and share them with your friends; the choice is yours! When you create flashcards on any subject ranging from business, geography, history, languages, math, medicine, science, or standardized tests, StudyStack gets creative with it and creates exciting games that help you memorize your study notes in a host of cool ways. Also, free gamified study activities include crossword puzzles, matching cards, guessing before the snowman melts, multiple-choice questions, direct tests, word scrambles, and other games such as Hungry Bug and Bug Match, which are automatically generated with the initial study flashcards you create. All of this gives the learner a ton of ways to memorize and recall their study notes as they prepare for a test.

4. 5.   Word-of-the day   Wordnik (https://www.wordnik.com/word-of-the-day)

Our Word of the Day is available Monday through Friday on the Word of the Day page (and is also available via email). To subscribe to the Word of the Day email, you must be a registered Wordnik. Log in to your account and check your user profile's "Subscribe to the Word of the Day" box.

 

 

Vocabulary.com Learn (https://www.vocabulary.com/word-of-the-day/)

Founded in 2008, Vocabulary.com was built by a multidisciplinary team of educators, lexicographers, data scientists, and developers. Together, they recognized the need for an effective instructional technology that would empower learners to unpack the complexity and nuances of the English language. The solution they developed was Vocabulary.com, a platform built on best practices that is systematic, engaging, and adaptive. To date, Vocabulary.com has served more than 5.1 billion questions to learners worldwide and is used by 3.8 million students in 56,000 schools. In 2020 Vocabulary.com joined the growing family of education technology products offered by IXL Learning.

 

Figure 10: Wordink Interface

 

 

 

4. 6.   Word Quizzes  Freerice (https://play.freerice.com/)  Playing Freerice sends an important message: community matters, and only by coming together can we help solve global problems like food insecurity and poverty. By using your knowledge to do good, you're advocating for positive change and supporting our mission to achieve a world of Zero Hunger. Whether you are playing Freerice at school or learning about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, you are paving the path for brighter futures ahead through nutrition.

 

Figure 11: Freeice Interface

 

EnglishClub (https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/)

Welcome to EnglishClub, a free website to help you learn (and teach) English. It's your club, where you can:

• make your own English page with blogs, photos, videos, music, groups, and friends
• test your level in English and get help with English grammar
• study English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation
• play English games and do English quizzes online
• chat in English with other students and teachers
• find schools where you can learn English at home or abroad

5. Knowword (https://playknoword.com/)

Knoword packs are like sets of interactive flash cards. Whether you're teaching biology terms, names of historical figures, capital cities, or movie titles, there's a pack for that. And if there isn't one, it's just as easy to create custom packs for your students to play with and expand their vocabulary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 12: Knoword Interface

 

References

Agustin, D. A., A’yun, E. Q., Marsya, T. I., & Kusuma, R. R. (2021). Potensi Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) sebagai Pemacu Ketahanan Tanaman Padi terhadap Hawar Malai Padi. Plantropica: Journal of Agricultural Science, 6(2), 96-105.

Al-Khresheh, M. H., & Al-Ruwaili, S. F. (2020). An Exploratory Study on Vocabulary Learning Strategies Used by Saudi EFL learners. Journal of History Culture and Art Research, 9(2), 288-302. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7596/taksad.v9i2.2616

Ambarwati, R., & Mandasari, B. (2020). THE INFLUENCE OF ONLINE CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY TOWARD STUDENTS'PRONUNCIATION AND VOCABULARY MASTERY. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 1(2), 50-55.

Chang, C. C., Tseng, K. H., Liang, C., & Yan, C. F. (2013). The influence of perceived convenience and curiosity on continuance intention in mobile English learning for high school students using PDAs. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 22(3), 373-386. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2013.802991

Farjami, F., & Aidinlou, N. A. (2013). Analysis of the impediments to English vocabulary learning and teaching. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 1(4-1), 1-5.

Kaya, J., & Charkova, K. (2014). the most and least frequent vocabulary learning strategies of high school English language learners. International Journal of English Language Education, 2(2), 122-141.

Lightfoot, D. (2010). Language acquisition and language change. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science. 1(5): 677–684. doi:10.1002/wcs.39.

Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Novanti, E. A., & Suprayogi, S. (2021). WEBTOON'S POTENTIALS TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS VOCABULARY. Journal of Research on Language Education, 2(2), 83-87.

Oktaviani, L. (2021). Penerapan Sistem Pembelajaran Dalam Jaringan Berbasis Web Pada Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 1 Pesawaran. Jurnal WIDYA LAKSMI (Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat), 1(2), 68-75.

Putri, E., & Education, E. (2022). An impact of the use Instagram application towards students vocabulary. Pustakailmu. id, 2(2), 1-10.

Schmitt, N. (1997). Vocabulary learning strategies. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition and pedagogy (pp. 199-227). Cambridge: Cambridge University.

Simamora, M. W. B., & Oktaviani, L. (2020). What is your favorite movie?: a strategy of English Education students to improve english vocabulary. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 1(2), 44-49.

Sinaga, R. R. F., & Oktaviani, L. (2020). The implementation of fun fishing to teach speaking for elementary school students. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 1(1), 1-6.

Subon, F. (2016). Direct vocabulary instruction: The effects of contextualised word families on learners' vocabulary acquisition. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 224, 284-291.

Tseng, J., & Poppenk, J. (2020) Brain meta-state transitions demarcate thoughts across task contexts exposing the mental noise of trait neuroticism. Nat Commun 11, 3480. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17255-9