A Study On The Training Of Dictionary Use Strategy In Vocubulary Learing In High School

In the past decades,TEFL researchers devoted their attention to language teaching. However,those approaches did not improve foreign language learning significantly (Cohen,2000).They slowly recognized that they paid much attention to the teaching and teachers,ignoring learning and learners.Therefore,language learning strategies became the focus.Furthermore,language learning strategies have been included and clearly divided in the National New Curriculum Standard(2003).Teaching how to learn becomes more important than ever before.This paper attempts to explore dictionary use strategies by the high school beginners in vocabulary learning so that the students can grasp some dictionary use strategies and step by step they will become autonomous English learners.Through this training,we can lay a profound foundation for their sustainable ability.Vocabulary is one of the most important parts in learning English.Just as D.A. Willkins said,"Without grammar,very little can be conveyed,without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed."(cited in Wang,2002:408).Learning English,as EFL, especially vocabulary learning,is not an easy task for Chinese high school students. And vocabulary testing is a must in NMET(National Matriculation English Test) over the years.Although the teachers pay much attention to it and use modem equipment when teaching,they still use a traditional teaching method.The students listen to the teacher passively,consuming a lot of time but fruitless.Vocabulary learning is still "bottleneck" for senior high students.During the author's years of teaching,the following questions always strike the author:How can the author make the students become active and autonomous in vocabulary learning? Can dictionary use training solve the problem of unsatisfied results at the initial stage in senior high school? How to give dictionary use training? Can dictionary use strategy training help students enrich their vocabulary size and enhance their reading ability? What may be the problems after the training and how to solve them if any? In order to improve the students' learning ability,the researcher designed the dictionary use training for the students based on the vocabulary learning theories of Gu,Schmitt and Nation.At the same time,the author dose the research also according to the specific process of the one Scholfield stated.The research questions are:1.Can we change the teacher-centered class into student-centered class by training the students to use dictionary in vocabulary learning? 2.By training the students to use dictionary,can they develop the ability to learn new vocabulary autonomously? 3.Can dictionary use,especially bilingual dictionary use improve the students' vocabulary at the same time?The subjects of the action research are 100 students in two science experimental classes in Senior Three in Heibei Tangshan No.1 High School.The author uses instruments of questionnaire,interview and tests.The research began in September 2005 and lasted for the whole semester.It consists of two stages,which are the preparation period and actualization of the action research.During the first period, questionnaire was given to the subjects mainly to find the actual fact about the dictionary use.After that,the subjects were given an overall training of dictionary use, from introducing different kind of learner's dictionaries,the editing methods,the comparison of paper dictionary and e-dictionary to the practice of consulting words from textbook.After the training,the students become aware of dictionary use strategies and they have made noticeable progress in many aspects from the word's pronunciation,spelling,part of speech to the specific usage,the collocation, polysemous words and example sentence etc.By receiving dictionary use training,the students develop their abilities to learn independently and autonomously.It not only does good to their senior high English leaning,but also to their sustainable ability for their further study.The students are no longer feel confused in learning vocabulary and know when and how to use some kind of strategies.Moreover,they can learn actively and without any pressure.They can make great progress in the learning while the teacher can also be liberated from the teaching burden.This paper is just the beginning of the action research in the writer's teaching career.More research will be needed for the future teaching.