Online German language learning tools: a case study of student insights into dictionary use

The article focuses on the study of the didactic potential of online German language dictionaries, which is based on the feedback provided by students of Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University (Ukraine). The aim of the present research is to investigate students’ attitudes toward German language online dictionaries and their use in learning German as a foreign language. To accomplish this aim, a combination of theoretical, empirical, and statistical research methods is employed. Based on an online survey featuring 41 student of the Faculty of Ukrainian and Foreign Philology of Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University, an information research base is formed. The study covers a wide range of student feedback on online German language dictionaries alongside their application in the process of language skill acquisition. The feedback analysis allows for revealing the respondents’ mixed reviews regarding their experience of using online German language dictionaries. The students’ feedback ranges from positive, highlighting the functional, content-related, and technical features of the lexicographic resources under investigation, to negative, criticizing the difficulties in using them. Based on these results, prerequisites are delimited for an effective use of modern online dictionaries as a tool of mastering German. Furthermore, based on the Ukrainian students’ requests, recommendations are outlined of improving these didactic lexicographic resources.