Usage Information In ECLDs

Usage information is an important part in learner's dictionaries,which appears in the form of usage notes in the leading learner's dictionaries.Usage information covers various topics,including synonymous discrimination,grammatical problems, confused uses and pragmatic information.In one word,usage information aims at guiding the learners to use English idiomatically.This thesis,however,narrows them down to three aspects,namely,grammatical information,lexical information and pragmatic information.Firstly,this thesis makes a critical review of the study of usage from the following aspects:the approaches to usage,the study of usage in English-speaking countries and the study of usage in China.Secondly,this thesis proposes the classifications of error analysis,steps of error analysis as well as the causes of error analysis,pointing out the categories of common mistakes made by Chinese students.The categories of common errors include three groups,namely,grammatical errors,lexical errors and pragmatic errors.Besides,the thesis makes a comparative study of the influential learners'dictionaries, summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of the usage notes in them.Finally,based on the specific needs of Chinese students,suggested principles and methods are put forward for the improvement of usage notes and their presentation in ECLDs.The specific suggestions are:1) selecting useful material from various Sources.2) specific problems involved in the usage information.3) place of the presentation of usage information and ways of presenting usage information.