The amount of vocabulary a person knows plays an important role in how well the person can communicate and understand a language. Resources such as dictionaries, glossaries, thesauri, paper and/or online, enable students’ access to the vocabulary they need.
Our brain is limited in the amount of information that can be stored, we cannot memorise all the information contained in directories or encyclopaedias. All we need is to know where to find information and how to access it fast and efficiently. Learning to have access and to use a variety of reference materials is a valuable transferable cross-curricular skill for any student.
In MFL by exploring and understanding the use of bilingual dictionaries, glossaries and thesauri, students are able to understand and explain unfamiliar vocabulary. Students need to learn not just how to use a dictionary, but also to disregard, choose and learn from whatever they find in it. The ability to find out information is only the first step. The second step is to make sure that the information found in online dictionaries, paper ones or in web pages passes from the printed word into their active or at least passive vocabulary.
That brings us to learning autonomy. Students who use a bilingual dictionary with confidence are certainly less dependent on teacher’s input. By becoming independent learners they gain control over their own learning. This control seems to create a much better attitude toward the subject they learn. A language learner learns the meaning of a new word; a good language learner develops an awareness of what he/she can learn about new words: spelling, collocation, synonyms, etc.

Pilar Gray Carlos