英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)中詞典使用的策略和技能

1、. . . . 英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)中詞典使用的策略和技能梁兆權(quán) 04021502 04本(5) 指導(dǎo)老師:肖青云講師摘要： 英文詞典是學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)必備的工具，詞典使用的策略和技能在二外習(xí)得中顯得尤為重要。本研究通過(guò)調(diào)查問(wèn)卷，對(duì)部分學(xué)院英語(yǔ)專業(yè)學(xué)生求助詞典時(shí)運(yùn)用的策略和技能進(jìn)行了調(diào)查。通過(guò)簡(jiǎn)單算術(shù)得來(lái)結(jié)果后，研究者利用這些有效的數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行有針對(duì)性地分析。我們期待調(diào)查結(jié)果能有助提高大學(xué)生的詞典使用技能和策略。關(guān)鍵詞：詞典；策略；技能iStrategies and Skills: Using Dictionary in English Study Liang Zhaoquan04<5> S

2、upervisor Xiao QingyunAbstract：English dictionaries arethe indispensable tools for students to learn English, and the using strategies and skills for language learning are of vital importance in second language acquisition.Through a questionnaire, this paper investigatespart of Huizhou University En

3、glish students using strategies and skills.Gaining a result byusing a simple counting, the research makes a pertinentanalysis with effective data. We are looking forward to the survey will help improve college studentsskills and strategies of Englishdictionary using.KeyWords: English dictionaries； S

4、trategies； Skills1.IntroductionAn English dictionary, as a tool or a reference in the English learning, helps to facilitate the language learning process and enables the learners to develop their language skills effectively. The effective and efficient use of a dictionary is one of the main factors

5、to affect the second-language acquisition. In the learning process, besides our teachers, what we most consult is an English dictionary. It provides English learners all types of information: spelling, syllables, weak and strong forms, syntactic structures, word origins, meaning, word collocation, f

6、ormal and informal usages, slangs and idioms,etc. Therefore, its importance is self-evident.However, if you use it in an inappropriate way, the second best teachersnot only couldnot help you, but also might even bring a lot of negative effects to you.For example, some learners just read the first se

7、veral Chinese meanings and usages of the word, which would negatively expand or narrow their understanding of original meanings; some learners depend too much on their dictionaries. Once they fail to know the meanings of the new words, they always look them up rather than guess them out. Such low sk

8、ills and strategies do not bring any convenience but waste them much time on looking up the dictionaries. Though theselearners have one or two paper-based dictionaries at least, they are forced to buy electronic dictionaries in addition, because they claim electronic dictionaries provide word meanin

9、g quicker.Dictionaries are among the most readily available, widely used, and cheapest learning resources, but they are also among the most difficult to use.1Theresearch of dictionary use, as a branch of lexicography, is concerned with more and more language experts.A great number of categories of s

10、pecific areas within this branch have been studied.The study of dictionary use in EFL (English as a foreign language) learning is one of the important areas of the research. 2There are several problems we need to solve: What strategies and skills they applied to handle the new words and usages in re

11、ading and listening? How do the learners succeed in choosing their suitable dictionariesin accordance with their own levels and needs?How often they use the dictionary? Do the language teachers give the students enough information andguidancein the selection and use ofEnglish dictionary?Are the

12、 current English majors clear about the three different English dictionaries functions？In light of these questions, we make a research on two English majors classes in HuizhouUniversity.2. Literature Review In the combinationof questionnaire and interviews of four Normal English classes, 4

13、05students, in the Foreign Languages department ofPutianCollege, Chen Yuzhen finds that the using frequency of electronic dictionary is much higher than that of paper-based dictionary, and junior students using times are more than senior students. So, she proves that junior students look-up strategi

14、es are more mature thansenior students, and conclude that student strategies and skills will not increase with the second language learning time.Also, she proposes that the teachers should have the sense to train their students the awareness of using dictionaries, and to provide necessary guidance a

15、nd enough training. They should encourage students study more independently, and boost their independent problem-solving abilities. 3 With the questionnaire of two non-English majorsclasses, 90 students,in the Chemical Technology department of SouthwesternUniversity, FengLinling finds out electronic

16、 dictionary has already become many non-English majors most extensive tool in language learning, because it is very efficient to find out the meanings of the new words. But when to mention electronic dictionarys pronunciation function, only a handful of people believe that it is very helpful, and th

17、e overwhelming majority of people believe that the functions are somewhat important or unimportant. By comparison, traditional paper-based dictionary is not only more conducive to learning, but also easier to master English usages. Feng Linling warns that if students aretoo reliant onelectronic dict

18、ionary, they wouldhave great difficulty inadvance the guessing ability of the new words. 4With the investigation analysis and strategies on the use of English dictionaries by non-English majors, Yuan Shuo advises schools and teachers to increase students using times of thepaper-based dictionariesusi

19、ng times, and consider other reference books as the part of students self-learning ability. Also theteachers should attach great attention to Students purchase and use of the dictionaries. 5Liang Yuling and Li Lei state that most students not only lack understanding the relation between English lear

20、ning process and dictionaries, but also fail to fully understand the types and functions of the dictionaries. Their ignorance of these aspects of the knowledge leads tomany problems when they use the dictionary: a. prefer to smalldictionary or the electronic one; b. focus on only one or a few simple

21、 front Interpretation of the English words; c. too self-confidenttoo look up the dictionaries. Form the above reference to students errors in usingstrategies;they believe that teachers can guide the students below the following aspects: a. make students fully understand the diverse functions ofpocke

22、t dictionary, electronic dictionaryand paper-based dictionary; b. Read all information of an English words as complete as possible; c. flexible to the use an English dictionary with the combination of the context. 6Wang Yanhua dividesEnglishlearning into four levels: a. beginning; b. intermediate; c

23、. advanced; d. quasi-bilinguals. She states that English teacher should help the students to choose an appropriate dictionary at different studying levels in accordance with students learning levels and their purposes. 7Zhao Liming proposes that more examples should be provided to guide the learners

24、. Let the learners guess and identify the meanings of the new words in the contexts as many as possible. He doesnt agree the students to use these following strategies: a. look up the dictionaries once they meet the new words; b. avoid studying the hard points. In return, he emphasizes his own opini

25、ons: a. the teachers should teach learners try to guessthe meanings of the words; b. make sure the learners understand the meaning or implied information as complete as possible, andencourage English learners to try to go through the subtle differencesbetween English and Chinese. He believes these w

26、ays willgreatly enrich and promote their comprehension of the English language. 83. Research DesignBy the combination of some language experts insights andmy own thoughts, we try to make out what types of strategies and skills will be most efficient in the learning process. In order to find out

27、 the best solutions, a Chinesequestionnaire will be adopted in this investigate 3.1 Research ParticipantsThe research participants includeHuizhouColleges two English classes, 85 English majors, a second-year classand the fourth-yearclass separately. The selected classes have representative in the sc

28、hool. 82 questionnaires were valid, only 3 questionnaires were invalid. For some certain questionsare incomplete. This investigation began in the middle March, 2008. 3.2 Instruments and Date CollectionThe questionnaire is composed of four parts:The first part is to try to find out students general k

29、nowledge of the dictionaries.The second part is to find out which kind of dictionary students would like to use.The third part is to get to know what the learners ideal dictionaries are. The forth part is that when students encounter the new words or expressions in reading and listening, what strate

30、gies and skills will apply. The fifth part is how to handle the new words in word analysis.4. Data AnalysisResults of the research are discussed in this part in this part. The strategies and skills analysis are the primary focus of this paper. 4.1 General Knowledge about the Paper-based Dictionary4.

31、1.1What do three items mean,Advancedlevel, Intermediate level and Elementary level of English dictionaries?Table 2ABStrategies and skillsUnknownKnowJunior students39%61%Senior students33.3%66.7%Average36%64%They are many types of English students dictionaries, for example, paper-based dictionaries l

32、ike bilingual dictionary with both Chinese and English explanations, English-English dictionary, electronic dictionaries and pc dictionary.What do three items mean, Advancedlevel, Intermediate level and Elementary level of English dictionaries, mean?Table 2 shows that, over 60% of junior and senior

33、students have already known these three items meaning. According to the volume of the entries in the different learning dictionaries, dictionaries can be divided into three categories: Advanced level, Intermediate level and Elementary level. Generally speaking, the Elementary level includes below 20

34、,000 words, Intermediate levelranging from 20000 to 40000, and the Advance level from 40,000 to 80,000.11 We can not judge the quality of a dictionary just simply byits number of its entries but on its utilization and functions. On the basis of their own level and needs, Learners choose an English d

35、ictionary.4.1.2What are the functions and the differences among bilingual dictionary with both Chinese and English explanations, English-English dictionary and bilingual dictionary with Chinese explanations only?Table 3ABStrategies and skillsUnclearClearJunior students19%81%Senior students16.7%83.3%

36、Average18%82%What are the functions and the differences among bilingual dictionary with both Chinese and English explanations, English-English dictionary and bilingual dictionary with Chinese explanations only?The data of table 3 show that most the students know their functions and differences. Firs

37、tly, Let us talk about bilingual dictionary with both Chinese and English explanations. It supplies a large numbers of the corresponding Chinese translation with the original terms and phrases. It adds the Chinese interpretation to its English original. Through the use of English-Chinese Dictionary,

38、 readers not only can better understand the Englishwordsby the corresponding Chinese words, but also more clearly and accurately understand its meaning by the English Interpretation. Its advantage is to avoid narrowing or expanding the Englishmeaning. In addition, the use of this kind of dictionary

39、can increase the English sense and learn more English usages and sayings at the same time. 12 However, when looking up it, we must pay more attention to read the English interpretation so as to further understanding its meanings. Generally speaking, bilingual dictionary with both Chinese and English

40、 explanations is suitable for the junior students in college.Secondly, bilingual dictionary with Chinese explanations only is easy to understand and remember the Chinese equivalents of English words. Whats more, the semantic information supplied by it is very pertinent, so its convenient for student

41、s to understand the differences of the two languages. However, as we know that few complete equivalents exist in two languages. Therefore, we could depend on bilingual dictionary with Chinese explanations onlyto much.Thirdly, English-English Dictionary purely consists of a single language: English.

42、The interpretation or examples are all expressed in English, so its biggest advantage is to provide a pure English environment without any Chinese equivalents. It can help usto think and understand in English. If we really want to study English well,we shouldhaveone English-Englishdictionary in hand

43、 at least.In addition, the use of English-English language can help learners to increase English sense, to get a clear and thorough understanding of the new words and usages, and to develop their proper uses of the language skills. 4.2 Which Kind of Dictionary Is Mostly Used?Table 1ABCDCategorybilin

44、gualdictionary with English and Chinese explanations English-English DictionaryBilingual dictionaries with Chinese explanations onlyon-line/electronic/PC dictionaryJunior students69%3.4%24.1%65.5%Senior students71%12.9%29%74.1%Average70%8%27%70%Table 1 shows that studentsusing frequency of dictionar

45、y: the bilingual dictionary with Chinese and English explanations and on-line/electronic/pc dictionary are students most using dictionaries, next bilingual dictionary with Chinese explanations only, the least English-English dictionary. This result falls below with Shi Gengshan and Chen Kuohuassimil

46、ar survey (the averageof betweenjunior studentsandsenior students, 87.5%), but quite close to Shi Binbin and Pan Panssurvey (78.2%). Senior students use electronic-on-line/PC dictionary more frequently than junior students. 910It can be drawn from the three points: Firstly, bilingualdictionary 

47、with Chinese and English explanations and the on-line/electronic/pc dictionary have already become studentsmost frequent using tools.Secondly, the figure of students usefrequencies of on-line/electronic/pc dictionary (65.5%), which is lower than that of the paper-based dictionaries (69%+3.4%+24.1%),

48、 indicates that learners prefer to consult the paper-based dictionary. So it proves that the English teachers must haveconsciously trained studentssense to use paper dictionary in class. Also, Students have already recognized thedeficiency of electronic dictionaries, so they are more willing to cons

49、ultpaper-based dictionaries. For paper-based dictionaries givethemmore new andaccurate interpretation, clear definitions, more usages and example sentences,etc.Thirdly, assenior students start to have the translation courses, so theyneed various dictionaries to obtain more information. That is the m

50、ain reason why the senior students use variousdictionariesmore often than the junior students, which is inconsistent with Chen Yuzhens argument that the juniors use variousdictionaries more often than the seniors. 34.3 Ideal Dictionaries4.3.1 What are learners ideal English dictionaries?Table 4ABCDS

51、trategiesAnd skillsA largevocabularyRich and clearInterpretationSound and complete samplesLight in weight and convenient to carryJunior students30%20%30%20%Senior students41%21%23%15%Average35.5%23%24%17.5%What are thelearners ideal English dictionaries? The data of table 4 shows that many studentst

52、hink the most valuable things for a dictionary are that it can include everything, such as, a large vocabulary, the second rich interpretation and samples, and convenient to carry, etc. On one hand, over 40% of senior students hope a dictionary should be edited with a large vocabulary, but only 15%

53、of them think the dictionary can be light in weight and convenient to carry. On the other hand, 30% of the junior students think a large vocabulary and complete samples are the most important. The reason is that there are more specialized items and new words in senior students courses. They encounte

54、r more new words and expressions than before. So they need a dictionary with a large vocabulary badly. Junior students focus more on grammars, so they think a dictionary with complete samples will be more suitable.Students not only require that an ideal dictionary should include a large vocabulary,

55、rich Interpretation, sound and complete samples, but also hope it is lightweight and convenient to carry. To meet these requirements, electronic dictionariesare temporarily unable to do it. 4.4 How to handle the new words in Reading and Listening?4.4.1When encounteringthe new words or expressions in

56、reading, what strategies and skills will be better?Table 5ABCDStrategies and skillsStop to look them up immediatelyWhether the words or the expression would affect understanding or not,not to look up these wordsstop to guess the meaning of the words or expressions by the context, and look them up if

57、 he/she fails to guesslook up the words that affect comprehensionJunior students3.4%6.9%44.8%44.8%Senior students6.5%048.4%45.2%Average4.95%3.45%46.60%45.00%When encounteringthe new words or expressions inreading, what strategies and skills will be better? The data of table 5 shows that junior studentsand senior students have chosen two similar reading strategies: a. they would stop to guess the meaning of the words or expressions by the context, and look them up if he/she fails to guess (junior students 44.8%; senior students 48.4%); b. look up the words that in