Pixel International Conferences

The recent advancements in the field of lexicography have been remarkable, with electronic lexicography and its product, electronic dictionaries, gaining much attention on behalf of lexicographers, researchers and dictionary users. In an attempt to obtain first-hand data on dictionary use in the Greek educational context, the present paper explores dictionary use in the framework of German language teaching in schools both of primary and secondary education, with a focus on the comparison of paper to electronic dictionaries. 236 German language teachers participated in the questionnaire study. The main issues presented in this paper are: a) frequency of use of paper and electronic dictionaries during lesson preparation and lesson conduct, and degree of its effectiveness, b) level of difficulty in the use of each dictionary type, c) various forms of electronic dictionaries used during German language teaching, d) advantages and disadvantages of both types of dictionaries used, e) perceived necessity of paper and electronic dictionary use in German language teaching at various levels of the Greek educational system, and f) level of satisfaction with their own competence of using paper and electronic dictionaries during their lesson. Frequency analysis of all these variables and a cross-tabulation between the independent and dependent variables were performed with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 21.0 (SPSS 21.0). The teachers’ answers allow for some interesting conclusions, such as their preference of the electronic dictionary in lesson preparation and lesson conduct, despite the lower level of satisfaction with their competence of using it compared to the paper dictionary.