| Writing is an important part in fundamental language learning apart from listening, speaking, reading and translating either in one’s mother tongue or in a foreign language. Writing is also an applicable skill in our daily life. In non-English speaking countries where English is taught as a subject in schools, EFL writing has always been a crucial concern of English teachers, language learners and scholars. There are a number of studies in China and abroad on how to teach and learn EFL writing, especially learning strategies of it.In mainland China where English is taught in almost all schools, the grammar-translation teaching method still has a profound influence on learners’ beliefs about English learning. English dictionaries are handy at the desks of language learners of all levels, and students are inclined to refer to dictionaries in English learning whenever they feel unsure about something.As the most frequently used instrument in FL learning, dictionaries are also subjects of on-going studies, i.e., use of dictionaries in language teaching and learning. Yet, there’re few studies on dictionary use in assessment contexts, if any, researchers focus more on reading and translating tests.In recent decades, scholars abroad begin to explore the potential relationships between dictionary use and FL and SL writing performance. Yet, its use in writing tests is still rarely discussed and we can see fewer such studies in China.This thesis reviews the previous studies relevant to dictionary use and EFL writing performance. These studies all probed into the relationship between use of a bilingual dictionary and FL writing performance. However, their subjects of the studies abroad are Mexican and Japanese students in French and English writing and their findings vary a lot (Hurman and Tall,1998),(Garcia,-),(East,2005),(East.2007),(Chon,2008). Such studies in China are just introductory and lack empirical researches, and if any. there is little statistical evidence to support their findings.Based on this idea, the present research is an attempt to investigate the potential effects that use of a bilingual dictionary may have on test takers’ performance in EFL writing tests, and the specific area(s) of English language that EFL writers’use of a bilingual dictionary will affect, like grammar, vocabulary, etc and the relationship between learning strategies and students’testing performance.The present study are carried out with both qualitative and quantitative data. Thirty Chinese students randomly selected from freshmen majoring in electronics of Shanxi Vocational and Technical College of Coal (N=84) with varied language proficiencies and dictionary use experiences took part in the one-term study. They were classified into two groups and took two different EFL writing tasks in two different writing contexts, one with and the other without use of a bilingual dictionary. Their writing process was observed by the author. And after the two writing tests, students were asked to finish a questionnaire and some were interviewed. And then their writing essays were rated by two experienced EFL raters.The results of the study indicate that there are distinctively positive significances between bilingual dictionary use and the test performance of college non-English majors in their EFL writing. The significances differ with their varied language proficiencies, and the bilingual dictionary plays varied roles in different areas of English language. Besides, the dictionary use strategies vary with students’language proficiencies. To generalize, learning strategics have something to do with students’ test performance.Finally, based on the research findings, implications and limitations were discussed and further research directions were suggested. |
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