Abstrak

Kembali

The study attempts to determine if the colour of functional (part-of-speech and syntactic) labels influences the speed and effectiveness of dictionary search for grammar as well as the retention of the retrieved information. It also investigates whether the role of colour is conditioned by the presence of examples in the microstructure. In an online multiple choice test, participants consulted a purpose-built e-dictionary which consisted of entries with and without examples. There were two dictionary versions. One presented the entries in black and white. In the other, functional labels were in colour. For each test item, the time of task completion was automatically recorded. In the immediate retention test, the participants did the same task without access to any dictionary. Results show that functional labels in colour significantly increase the speed and effectiveness of online dictionary search. They also improve retention.