Abstract:

The aim of this study is to investigate L2 learners' frequencies of word solving strategies use and its perceived helpfulness in a CALL classroom when compared to learners' in a traditional classroom. The participants of the study were 67 Saudi male students majoring in English in the first year of a BA course in Majmaah university, KSA. The participants were divided into two groups.The first group was from the Community College and represented the CALL group (n=31). The second group was from the Administrative sciences and Humanities College and represented the traditional group (n=36). This study used both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, namely questionnaire and interview.The findings of the study showed that both groups' overall use of the word solving strategies was improved after the implementation of the study, but the CALL group used the word solving strategies better than the traditional group, and the difference between them was statistically significant. However, there was no difference between the two groups regarding the most and least frequently used strategies in the two learning environments. A dictionary consultation strategy was the most frequently used strategy, and this was also perceived as a very helpful strategy, while the skipping new word strategy was the least frequently used strategy and was also regarded as not being a helpful strategy by the two groups. The CALL group also perceived the ask classmate strategy as not being a helpful strategy. However, a significant correlation between the frequencies of the word solving strategies and its perceived helpfulness in the two learning classrooms has been found.

Keywords:

Computer Assisted Language Learning, CALL, Word Solving Strategies, Vocabulary learning strategies.