The Effects Of Dictionary Use During Reading On L2 Vocabulary Learning:A Small-scale Empirical Study

L2 vocabulary has been regarded as a fundamental component of L2 teaching and learning and the issue of how to improve L2 vocabulary competence has been a research interest for many years.As a carrier of vocabulary information,dictionaries are considered as one of the most useful vocabulary learning tools.Previous studies have probed into dictionary use in various language activities(e.g.writing,translation and reading).However,those investigating dictionary use during reading are all large-scale quantitative studies without in-depth examination of individual dictionary use preferences and corresponding effects on L2 vocabulary learning.Based on the gaps found in previous studies concerning this issue at stake,the present study is a small-scale empirical study investigating dictionary use during reading and the corresponding effects on L2 vocabulary learning.The eight subjects were EFL university students with four of them from English major(advanced learners)and the other four from non-English majors(intermediate learners).The testing was conducted one subject at a time.The subject was asked to read a passage and underline the words s/he did not recognise at the first glance.Every time s/he looked up a word,s/he was required to make a different mark to this word and fill in one consulting flowchart which was designed to record his/her lookup preferences.The reading was immediately followed by a vocabulary retention test aiming to look at his/her receptive and productive knowledge of words both looked up in dictionaries and guessed from the context.Afterwards,an interview was conducted between the researcher and the subject to further explore his/her perception of dictionary use during reading.Correlation analysis between lookup preferences and vocabulary retention rates was conducted.Results suggest that different subjects have different lookup preferences.Generally,they tend to look up words in dictionaries rather than guessing them from the context.Definitions come as the most popular consulting option,which is followed by pronunciations.This is a unique phenomenon for Chinese students,which may be due to the different phonetic and orthographic systems between Chinese and English.In terms of languages,L1 is the most frequent consulting option while L2 is the least(the frequency is zero in the present study).Although the present study does not take other language activities into consideration,e.g.writing and translation,still,to a certain extent,the result points to the monopoly of bilingual/bilingualised dictionaries in Chinese lexicographical market,which leads to the fact that Chinese EFL learners are not keen on using monolingual dictionaries.This study has both theoretical and practical significance.Theoretically,it supports both the Involvement Load Hypothesis and the Depth of Processing Hypothesis,proving that dictionary use during reading could increase the mental effort and deepen the processing of information,thus effectively helping L2 vocabulary learning.The practical implication is,therefore,to encourage students to use dictionaries during reading,especially when the focus is on L2 vocabulary learning.And it is preferable that necessary training be provided to help students use dictionaries effectively and strategically.