第1章简介
1.1研究背景
词典一直在英语学习和教学中扮演着最重要的角色之一。对于英语学习者，字典的使用被看作是一种有效的策略词汇习得。电子词典是重要的英语学习工具，但纸质词典的价值却被减低很多。Besides spelling, pronunciation, and definition of a targetword, a dictionary can offer various other lexical information, including usage，collocation, synonym，antonym, practical sentence examples, and etc., to learners.
However, most post-90s EFL learners fail to be efficient dictionary users. They tendto use dictionaries out of their individual habits, instead of following a clear set ofreasonable strategies，in their EFL learning process. As a result，complaints are oftenheard about the confusion and frustration brought about by dictionary use. A lot ofEFL learners are not so sure of which kind, paper dictionary or electronic one,accords with their English proficiency and learning purposes，when they are supposedto turn to a dictionary for help, which type of dictionary can give a more accuratedefinition of a target word in the context of the tasks being performed, whether paperdictionaries should be replaced by electronic ones or not. Additionally, still manylearners ignore the collocational, stylistic, syntactic, or pragmatic features of a targetword as they use e-dictionaries. For http://www.1daixie.com/dxyylwinstance, an unsuccessful dictionary user alwaysfocuses on the first definition or usage of a headword, ignoring the others. As a result,misinterpretations in reading assignment constantly occur, so do vocabulary mistakesin language output tasks. Such problems might be caused by facts that e-dictionarygains great popularity even dominance in post-90s EFL learners, and that dictionaryuse by most of those learners occurs after class and without the teacher's guidance.Due to the limited class hours of regular English courses and neglect of thesignificance of dictionary use in EFL learning and teaching, few teachers giveprofessional instructions on dictionary use. Instead, teachers may take it for grantedthat their students were able to deal with their lexical problems by the help ofdictionary independently.
1.2Significance of the Study研究目标
EFL teaching and learning is aimed at building the learners linguistic knowledge,cultivating their language skills, developing their learning strategies and fosteringtheir cross-cultural communication competence. Dictionary strategies are among themost important learning strategies for language learners. Although they belong to thecognitive strategies according to O'Malley and Chamot (1990)，the process ofdictionary use involves far more than only cognitive strategies as it is also' closelyrelated to many individual factors such as motivation, planning，self-assessment andself-regulation. http://www.1daixie.com/dxyylwThey all play important roles in fostering self-directed andindependent dictionary consultation, thus promote learners’ learning autonomy inlanguage acquisition.Some former studies (Guan Li, 2005; Cao Xiaojuan, 2007; Zhao Ming, 2009) ondictionary use mainly aims to examine situations of paper dictionary use in collegeEFL learning process，giving minor attention to those of e-dictionary use among EFLlearners of today and different impacts of these two types of dictionaries on them.This study is going to replicate some previous findings and also added some newpoints to dictionary use study, which has some implications for college Englishteaching.
Chapter 2 Literature Review文献综述
2.1 Introduction to E-Dictionary Study电子词典的研究
20世纪40年代美国研究机器翻译标志着OFE词典。但它并没有给予太多的关注，直到20世纪80年代首次推出个人电脑（PC），并成为越来越流行，更重要的是，compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) began to be applied incomputers and major progress had been made in the study of machine translation.
Thence portable e-dictionaries, computer dictionaries, CD-ROM dictionaries, evenonline dictionaries came into being and were accepted and welcomed by peoplegradually. Although these new types of dictionaries are various in forms, they are innature applications of modern electronic information technology.In English language, however, an e-dictionary has some other names likecomputer-aided dictionary, computer-assisted dictionary, computer-based dictionary,computerized dictionary, etc. Though confusing, these names contains two basic facts:e-dictionaries without question are built on the technology of electronics andcomputer; their information is displayed on digital screen instead of paper. The latterone is a main difference between e-dictionaries and paper dictionaries.Hartmann and James (2000) defined an e-dictionary as "a reference book that candisplay the information on digital screen by using computer and the relevanttechnology”. Nesi (2009) considered that an e-dictionary is a dictionary whose dataexists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media.
The blossom of computer and internet technology has revolutionized lexicology.A variety of e-dictionaries emerge as required. Zhang Yihua (2007) considered thatthe information carrier of an e-dictionary can be based on electronic, optical ormagnetic medium like compact disc, magnetic disk, magneto optical disk, flashmemory disk or micro chip. With the help of micro processor and other relatedcomponents, vocabulary knowledge can be searched and displayed with very high speed and accuracy. Broadly speaking, e-dictionaries include all kinds ofdictionaries stored in electronic, optical or magnetic medium, such as various generaland specialized dictionaries, encyclopedia, multi-language terminology database,liine dictionary in translation system, corpus, various internet-based dictionariesand database, spelling checker in word processors or editor (like Microsoft Word) andcomputer aided thesaurus, etc. This definition accurately and completely reflects theessence of e-dictionaries. .
Chapter 3 Methodology....................................... 34-40
3.1 Research Questions....................................... 34
3.2 Subjects .......................................34-35
3.3 Instruments .......................................35-38
3.3.1 Questionnaire on Dictionary Use....................................... 35-36
3.3.2 Vocabulary Knowledge Tests .......................................36-38
3.4 Data Collection and Data Analysis.......................................38-40
3.4.1 Data Collection....................................... 38-39
3.4.2 Data Analysis .......................................39-40
Chapter 4 Results and Analysis .......................................40-77
4.1 Results of Questionnaire .......................................40-53
4.1.1 Type and Possession .......................................40-43
4.1.2 Consulting Frequency and Purposes....................................... 43-45
4.1.3 Consulting Habits and Strategies .......................................45-53
4.2 Correlations Between Vocabulary....................................... 53-77
Chapter 5 Conclusions....................................... 77-84
5.1 Major Findings of This Study....................................... 77-80
5.2 Pedagogical Implications .......................................80-84
Conclusion结论
Wan and Ling (2005) also suggested the significance and necessity of dictionaryuse in various language learning activities. Using a dictionary in the correct andproper way is considered as an important language learning strategy. Nowadays,various e-dictionaries are booming in the campus. It is absolutely necessary to open accurse for non-English majors to guide them in using a dictionary. They alsosuggested a gradation teaching framework based on learners' competence anddemand, including a required course for primary level and a optional course foradvanced level.In the dictionary of the vigorous development of today is necessary in college nonEnglish Majors English dictionary use. They also put forward according to thestudents' abilities and needs of different building contains a basic compulsory coursesand elective courses of high order for graded teaching framework, and for dictionaryuse class specific practice are discussed.
Based on this survey and its findings, I try to give several humble suggestions onguiding EFL learners in using an English dictionary in class and after classFirst of all, EFL learners especially freshmen often reveal a certain blindness indictionary selection. So the lectures about how to use English reference books can beintroduced by teachers experienced even specialized in English dictionary use. Afterthe lectures, learners are able to be fully familiar with various paper dictionaries orsome high quality e-dictionaries instead of fixing their eyes on computer dictionary ormobile phone dictionary. At the same time, EFL learners are suggested to make a fulluse of both library and online resources and practice in using different types ofEnglish dictionaries in actual learning.